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There are many benefits to volunteer work. It’s good for the people in your community who need help, of course. It’s good for you to feel that you are doing something selfless for others — giving your time and effort to help where help is needed. It even lets you become part of a group with a common cause. You and your fellow volunteers might become good friends through camaraderie — often lifelong friendships are formed between coworkers, why not between fellow volunteers?
Whether you’re volunteering to give back or to get something out of it for yourself as well, the rewards aren’t just touchy-feely things like feeling good about helping others )although there’s certainly nothing wrong with feeling good, because you are helping people.) There are some definite financial and career-related benefits in particular. Volunteer work looks great on a resume, for example. If you pick which place to volunteer based on what kind of job you’re interested in, volunteer work can give you viable experience to mark on your resume. Often jobs will not hire you without some experience in the field, and this is a great way to get it.
As if forming potential friendships, helping others in need, and padding your resume with relavent experience weren’t reward enough, some kinds of volunteer work — building houses for the poor and working in a community garden together, for example — can even be good forms of exercise. Some volunteer work can take you to different countries and allow you travel and experience different cultures you wouldn’t be able to afford a trip for otherwise. Simply put, helping others helps you.
