Why volunteer?

There’s no doubt about it – volunteering looks great on your CV – and employers often want to know about what volunteering you have done. In fact, 75 per cent of employers say that they prefer applicants with voluntary work experience. (Source: Tearfund Survey)

By volunteering you can:

• Learn new skills and gain valuable work experience to add to your CV and enhance your employability.
• Get involved in your local community and make a difference while you get to know where you live and study.
• Put into practice the skills and knowledge you have learnt at university.
• Meet new people and make new friends.
• Receive training opportunities and a certificate if you complete more than 30 hours' work or a volunteering project.

Some volunteering placements have accredited training and we run first aid, child protection and mental health awareness training.

Gaining new skills and experience

The range of skills that you can gain from your volunteering is extensive. Below is a list of many, but by no means all of the skills that you could gain, depending on the types of volunteering opportunities you choose to take.

Download this list for reference: Skills Reflection Sheet pdf (100kb)

• accounting
• adaptability
• analysis skills
• assertiveness
• budgeting
• business awareness
• coaching/mentoring
• collecting data
• commitment
• communication skills (written, oral, listening, visual)
• confidence building
• conservation
• creative thinking
• creativity
• critical analysis
• decision making
• design
• design ability
• directing
• display
• emotional intelligence
• empathy
• enhancing art and creative skills
• equal opportunities
• evaluation
• flexibility/adaptability
• foreign language
• global awareness
• imagination
• increasing self esteem
• initiative
• interpersonal skills
• IT/computer literacy
• knowledge and awareness of other groups
• leadership
• listening
• marketing
• money management
• motivation
• multi-tasking
• negotiation
• networking
• numeracy skills
• operating equipment
• organisational skills
• planning
• presentation skills
• problem solving
• professional conduct
• project development
• public speaking
• publicity
• punctuality
• questioning
• reflection and evaluation skills
• research
• resolving conflict
• self-presentation
• self-awareness
• self-promotion
• sourcing and summarising material
• supervising
• support/listening
• taking responsibility
• teaching skills
• team building skills
• time management
• using initiative to achieve set tasks
• working to deadlines
• working under pressure
• working with different groups of people
• working with people on a 1:1 basis
• writing.