Volunteer abroad & gain experience

Volunteering abroad: a valuable experience

Apart from relevant skills, employers prefer to hire people who have experience of different kinds. Not only work experience but also life experiences that have matured and rounded you as a person. Backpacking for months, picking grapes or apples during some intensive months, working at a summer camp for children or other stamina-building experiences

provide valuable insights and personal skills that are a great addition to your CV.

Needless to say, a long volunteer abroad experience is something that will serve your career well. Volunteering abroad allows you to travel, broaden your horizons and experience cultures and places that are completely different from your own

Here are some aspects of your personality and experience that an international volunteering experience can give you:

 

Independence

Taking the initiative to educate yourself through responsible travel, and to travel with the purpose of volunteering, underscores personal capacities such as independence, self-reliance and not least maturity. Your future employer will love to hear you talk about how you managed to overcome challenges and obstacles.

Resilience

Having spent a substantial time getting to know diverse cultures, adjusting to a different climate, and overcoming challenges such as non-existent infrastructure and other adverse conditions, will impress anyone, including your future employer. You will be much more confident about your own personal boundaries and know that you can manage difficult situations with a “been there, done that” attitude.

Dedication

Any organisation, be it non-profit, business, or public service, is looking for dedicated people. By volunteering and carrying out an important mission you show dedication, i.e. willingness to listen and learn from others, and putting the needs of others before your own. Your employer will recognise and appreciate your ability to work towards a specific goal, and stay the course, especially if this is a common goal where you are part of a team.

Developing new skills

While volunteering at an international project, you will not only immerse yourself in your new community, but you will also learn new skills – perhaps skills you never thought that you would concern yourself with. Depending on your volunteer position, you will have the opportunity to practise (or learn) organisational skills, teaching, tropical gardening, documenting the progress of a project (reporting, taking photographs), fundraising, or solving all kinds of problems.

As a participant in the Volunteer for Change programme, you will be given as much responsibility as you can handle, so you will also have ample opportunity to develop your leadership skills.

Language and communication

In our globalised world, companies and organisations need more and more employees who have foreign language skills. You can use your volunteer abroad experience to learn a new language or sharpen your existing language skills. Being able to communicate efficiently with people from all walks of life is an important ability to have – and a skill that can be used in many different contexts. The 3-month preparatory course is conducted in English.

Cross-cultural experience

As an international volunteer, you will be engaging in cultural exchange, since you are working side by side with Malawians / Mozambicans / Indians / Zambians / …
By immersing yourself in a culture and community different from your own, for several months, you will gain important insights into their reality.

This is something entirely different from going on a holiday abroad, or even your average backpacking experience. It is completely possible to backpack across continents without ever having to deal much with people who live there – simply by going from hostel to hostel guided by a Lonely Planet book.

In a globalised world, truly understanding the perspective of other cultures can be extremely valuable. Therefore, the personal ballast of a cross-cultural experience cannot be underestimated.

A global perspective

We have heard it again and again: Volunteering abroad, with a developing community, can truly change your life. Having experienced first-hand the humble conditions that many people must accept as their living conditions, is usually a real eye-opener. Not taking anything for granted and being grateful for what you have is something you learn as a volunteer at a development project.

When you travel and experience life in a local community for some time, you develop a unique global perspective – unless you have a heart of stone. Understanding the struggles of others, for example, people and places most affected by the climate crisis, instead of focusing on your diminutive issues is a great perspective to have, in any workplace.  Most employers value staff who are resourceful, are respectful towards others – and who understand the importance of working together with others to solve problems.