The joy of giving back, a chance at altruism or an opportunity at self discovery – whatever the intention, graduates are volunteering their time. In doing so, they develop a range of skills that appeal to potential employers and recruiters and put them head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.
What Employers Look For
Graduates need actual learning that can be applied to real-world problems. Employers around the world are of the same mind that academic proficiency as evidenced through a diploma or degree is no longer sufficient to land a job.
According to a report [College Learning for the New Global Century, 2008] by the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education, America’s Promise, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a majority of employers (63 percent) say “college graduates lack essential skills to succeed in today’s global economy”. They cited communication, creativity and analytical skills and cross-disciplinary knowledge as vital components.
In the United Kingdom, the Association of Graduate Recruiters biannual survey revealed that four out of 10 large employers struggled with a shortage of high calibre applicants with the soft skills of team working and communication as well as verbal and numerical reasoning.
In Asia, the National University of Singapore’s Centre of Development for Teaching and Learning conducted a survey (note that this is a PDF file) which discovered that employers ranked the skills of teamwork, problem solving and initiative as the top three that graduate employees should possess in the so-called New Economy.
How Employers View Voluntary Work
It is clear that businesses are increasingly in recognition of the role that philanthropic activities contribute to personal development. Companies believe that volunteerism will grow in importance as a human resource priority at the same time that corporate social responsibility becomes mainstream.
In a comprehensive study by The Corporate Citizenship Company [Valuing Employee Community Involvement, 1998] managers reported self confidence and communication skills as showing the most development gain following involvement in community projects. This is corroborated by research by British recruitment specialist Reed Executive showing an overwhelming number of firms who felt that volunteering improved communication and team working and augmented the key workforce skills of planning, organisation and negotiation abilities.
Giving Time to Develop Skills
The good news if you are a graduate struggling in a tight labour market is that this is a perfect opportunity to grow your competencies and demonstrate your capabilities. Practically all voluntary work requires you to develop the core skills that employers seek. And because you are dealing with real-world issues your analytical and creative abilities will be tested and nurtured.
You can choose your area of involvement – community service, environmental protection and wildlife conservation being the three broad fields. And you can work in any role from project management, administration, data collection, fund-raising, campaigning, care giving, IT, logistics, media and many more.
Whichever area that you choose to be involved in, you can be certain that the challenges you encounter will enhance your teamwork, communication and reasoning abilities, giving you a competent advantage over your competitors and boosting your standing with employers and recruiters.
Thaddeus Lawrence - A trainer and facilitator for youth and corporate workshops, Thaddeus is a former Economics lecturer and English teacher whose areas of ...
