I feel that sometimes individuals are quite reluctant to volunteer because they fail to recognize just how valuable the skills that they acquire through volunteering really are. That being said, I hope that this post will open your eyes to how skills from your volunteer experiences may be applied to a future career.
My last article touched on employability skills that you would most likely gain through volunteering: communication, interpersonal and time management skills. But how exactly could these apply to a future career?
Each skill parallels quite nicely to certain tasks that a workplace may have one do. As an example, I will show you how these skills could transfer nicely over to a future career as a lawyer:
1. Communication
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Presenting one’s self and/or case clearly in court orally
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Communicating one’s argument clearly both in writing and in spoken word (i.e. with reports and in court)
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Communicating clearly with a client, witnesses, and other court officials
2. Interpersonal
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Working well with clients, victims, witnesses, etc. in an efficient manner
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Working with the media and public when addressing certain cases publicly
3. Time Management Skills
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Prioritizing multiple cases and plan time out to work on them
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Managing multiple appointments with multiple clients successfully
These are only a TINY sample of how these skills could apply to a career in law. There are many other tasks that these skills could be applicable to a vast number of careers that university students like you and I dream of having.
