The Kenyan job market is a tough place to be in, almost every graduate can bear witness to this fact. Most times graduates come out of school and enter into the labour market with the sole purpose of finding a job. About 50% of the time, they are told they do not have the required experience, the other 50% can be attributed to the fact that they do not have the necessary skills.
Let’s be honest, this can be discouraging to graduates as they do not know where to get this experience from. There is a solution to that problem and it is VOLUNTEER JOBS.
Volunteer jobs are basically jobs that require people to work without pay for the achievement of a greater cause. This might not sound like something you want to hear, but here are some reasons why you should consider it.
- It will help you to boost your CV
Are you one of those people that has nothing to write in the work/voluntary experience segment of their CV? You can easily fix that by taking up a volunteer job. You might think that volunteer experience does not count as work experience, but as a matter of fact, it does. Volunteering shows how much of a hard worker you are, it shows that you can be passionate and dedicated to something for long periods of time.
Tip: When choosing a volunteer job, choose one that is in line with your career goals and aspirations. For example, you want to be a business executive you could volunteer as an intern in a business firm. The experience you gain from that job can help you in the long run.
- It will help you acquire new skills.
A volunteer job opens up an avenue for you to acquire new skills. It also presents you with the opportunity to strengthen your weaknesses and develop your strengths. A volunteer job is like a preparation ground for your career aspirations. It’s like a SWOT(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis for your goals.
Pro Tip: Learn as much as you can while on the job, challenge yourself, push out of your comfort zone.
- It will help to boost your social networking skills.
In Kenya, it is a popular saying that “Connection is everything”. If you are worried that you don’t have any connections, why not try and make some? One of the ways you can do that is through volunteering.
Volunteering jobs are avenues for social networking. It has been said that shared activity brings people together. You have to realize that it is not everybody that volunteers because they are looking for jobs, some people volunteer because they are passionate about the cause. It will also help boost your ability to work on a team as you interact with people on a daily basis.
Pro Tip: Interact with people on the job, show your interest and passion, try to participate in every activity.
- Lastly…A volunteer job can become a full paying job!
The best part of taking a volunteer job is that it can become a full paying job! The key to getting this far is to show how much of a hard worker you are, show your dedication, your enthusiasm, your passion for the job…Every firm wants a passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic person on their team.
In order to become a successful volunteer, you should try these 4 tips.
- Learn as much as you can and apply it.
- Meet up/surpass expectations
- Be confident
- Enjoy yourself.
