Volunteering offers so much in the way of personal and professional development, with so many opportunities to gain work experience and make a positive impact on the wider community.
Valuable work experience and new skills
Whether you're already in the midst of the graduate job hunt, working a part-time job or just looking for some additional experience to bulk out your CV, volunteering can be a great help.
As volunteering is so varied, you can choose what area to do unpaid work in based on your dream career.
Or, you could choose something that interests you but is totally unrelated to your studies. This is actually a lot more beneficial than you might think, as it demonstrates that you're a well-rounded person with diverse interests.
Free qualifications and training
Perhaps one of the best perks of volunteering (aside from all the great experience and fun times, of course) is getting some additional qualifications for free.
A lot of non-profit organisations will offer training to volunteers, which often leads to accreditation too. Always make sure you ask what development opportunities are available.
If you're volunteering at uni, you'll often find that they'll run training sessions for volunteers. For example, the University of Kent offers its students a free extracurricular 15-credit module on volunteering.
Lots of universities also run a system where you can log time spent volunteering to receive awards. It's worth asking student services to see which opportunities are open to you.
New friends and work contacts
Who doesn't want an excuse to make more friends? Volunteering is the perfect opportunity to widen your social circle and make some great work connections in the process. You'll never know who you'll be mingling with when volunteering.
And, if you make a great impression, you might even hear from them later down the line when a job opportunity pops up that you'd be ideal for.
Improved self-esteem and confidence
By volunteering, you're doing your bit to contribute to a good cause. A great side effect of this is that it should make you feel pretty good about yourself.
Even if you get nothing else out of volunteering, the idea that you're helping out in some capacity should make it all worthwhile.