Graduation can be a daunting place and those expectations of high salaries and dream jobs make the transition from lecture hall to boardroom that much more difficult.

 

However, whilst that dream job may not be the first destination after graduation, “filler” work isn’t necessarily your only option.  Volunteering is gaining increasing respect amongst recent graduates as a way of gaining valuable experience that can be vital in securing or moving closer to their ideal role.

 

Volunteering isn’t just about giving “something for nothing”.  ProjectScotland (http://www.projectscotland.co.uk/volunteer) is a volunteering charity which matches up young people in Scotland with placements in non-profit organisations.  The charity cannot offer payment for volunteering, but does acknowledge the financial challenge of volunteering time, by assisting volunteers with discounts on public travel services.  They also hold film nights and activity days as a way of getting the volunteers together to meet each other.

  The charity offers a wide range of placements covering arts, marketing, publishing, conservation, amongst other areas and also assigns a mentor to each volunteer for guidance and support.

 

With careful planning, a relevant volunteer placement can add serious value to a C.V.  Take the example of Heather Graham, who undertook a placement with ProjectScotland as an art collection cataloguer and researcher for the Scottish Executive.

 

After graduating from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Heather started to job seek with very little success. It became clear that she needed more work experience before she could go on and apply for more permanent jobs in the art world.  Volunteering at the Scottish Executive gave her the opportunity to do this by looking for and photographing all the artwork on the display in the Executive’s buildings.  Heather then follows this up by researching and writing about the pieces of art and the various artists.  With such a positive experience behind her, Heather now plans to concentrate on making up a portfolio of artwork in preparation for setting up her own exhibitions and selling her work.

 

Whilst many students and graduates dismiss volunteering as “work without pay”, in the long term, the donation of time for experience may prove to be an extremely valuable investment.

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