Volunteering can be a powerful way to boost your career. In fact, SEEK Volunteer research found that 95 per cent of employers think volunteering can be a great way to gain experience and skills that can be used in an individual’s paid work.

Volunteering can be a powerful way to boost your career. In fact, SEEK Volunteer research found that 95 percent of employers think volunteering can be a great way to gain experience and skills that can be used in an individual’s paid work.

What’s more, volunteering can open a world of career opportunities you may never have dreamt possible. Take Grant Stewart for example.

Stewart has seen the world and been headhunted for jobs he never expected – all down to the experience and contacts he made from volunteering.

Just a shy 21-year-old when he had his own first-hand interaction with a not-for-profit called WorldSkills Australia. It completely changed his world.  

The apprentice plumber had entered a WorldSkills Australia competition as a participant and here met many passionate and talented volunteers working together to make a difference. It opened his eyes to the possibilities that volunteer work could bring to his life.

• From a plumber to an international industry leader. Once the competition finished, Stewart was hooked and decided he would join the not-for-profit as a volunteer.
  
  A few years down the track and Stewart’s work with WorldSkills Australia would lead him to an enviable career dotted with international work experience. Initially as a teacher, then a mining manager, an operations manager, an international vocational judge, industry leader and a mentor to dozens of young people following in his footsteps.
  
  Every single one of these varied career opportunities has been thanks to volunteering. Whether that be through the extensive networks Stewart developed or the skills learned and gained through volunteer work.
   
• Volunteer work equals credible skills. It didn’t matter to employers whether Stewart’s skills were gained in paid or volunteer work. What mattered was that the skills were real, credible, and an asset to their organisation. That’s exactly what SEEK Volunteer’s research found with 95% of respondents saying they gained real-work experience from volunteering. In fact, as long as the volunteering work is relevant, 85 per cent of employers believe that it’s just as credible as paid.
   
• Skills gained through volunteering. Far from the shy 21-year-old plumber, the 42-year-old global citizen says much of what he has done wouldn’t have happened without the experience, contacts, confidence and soft skills such as facilitation and people management that his thousands of hours of fulfilling volunteer work has given him.

So, if you’re looking for ways to gain new skills and enhance your career, visit SEEK Volunteer and find the right role for you.