How to Apply the Skills from our Volunteer Experiences to Future Careers

I feel that sometimes individuals are quite reluctant to volunteer because they fail to recognize just how valuable the skills that they acquire through volunteering really are. That being said, I hope that this post will open your eyes to how skills from your volunteer experiences may be applied to a future career.

My last article touched on employability skills that you would most likely gain through volunteering: communication, interpersonal and time management skills. But how exactly could these apply to a future career?

Each skill parallels quite nicely to certain tasks that a workplace may have one do. As an example, I will show you how these skills could transfer nicely over to a future career as a lawyer:

1. Communication

• Presenting one’s self and/or case clearly in court orally
• Communicating one’s argument clearly both in writing and in spoken word (i.e. with reports and in court)
• Communicating clearly with a client, witnesses, and other court officials

2. Interpersonal

• Working well with clients, victims, witnesses, etc. in an efficient manner
• Working with the media and public when addressing certain cases publicly

3. Time management skills

• Prioritizing multiple cases and plan time out to work on them
• Managing multiple appointments with multiple clients successfully

These are only a TINY sample of how these skills could apply to a career in law. There are many other tasks that these skills could be applicable to a vast number of careers that university students like you and I dream of having.

Beyond the Article:

• Read Kim’s article about employability skills that can be gained through volunteering
• Dave’s Diary: Transferable Skills Pay the Bills
• How exactly can you apply communication skills in the workplace?

Lead Image: Joe Mabel on Flickr