2018-10-05

Volunteering and Personal Development #2 – Career Development

Written by Tim Ho
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Teaching English as a Second Language Teaching English as a Second Language

As written in part one of this series, volunteering can benefit your personal development as well. The following is just an example.

If you have just finished your degree in education, why don’t you think about volunteering as a teacher? You can surely apply what you have learnt about classroom management, teaching plan design, etc. Maybe you have done a teaching placement during your studies already. But there is no such thing as “too many experiences”. And don’t forget you are doing a good deed - helping others by applying your knowledge and skills.

You may not have the luck to find a volunteer project that directly match your career goal. However, it is also interesting and useful to reflect on your work before and think about how you can potentially use it to help people. More than often it comes out when you are not even conscious about it. For example, if you have designed posters for your company or student society before, you may find this useful now, in your school, kindergarten, health center, or communications role. And all the different volunteering positions welcome new and creative ideas as well, so don’t be shy about bringing these to the table.

As you choose to volunteer, you come with passion. Perhaps this will be a cornerstone for your next career breakthrough, to learn the value of what you have been doing, or find the missing puzzle in your career and life.

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