How can volunteering impact your career?

March 21, 2019

The power of giving back

Volunteers can provide needed resources to help mission-based organizations accomplish their goals and help to promote a culture of giving back. Prashasti Mishra, a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting LLP, completed a three-month volunteer program with Deloitte Consulting’s People 2 People initiative. During this time, she worked with a social enterprise focused on addressing chronic child malnutrition in Guatemala. Along with gaining a unique understanding and appreciation of the Guatemalan culture, Prashasti’s volunteer experience allowed her to hone her project management and consulting skills in a completely new way.

“The project was a great way to build end-to-end project management skills, including client relationship management, project scoping, deliverable creation, and delivery,” said Prashasti. “We had guidance, but our group of senior consultants were responsible for project management and execution.”

By tapping into your innate qualities of goodwill, you may also develop soft skills that organizations are seeking. Skills such as:

• Leadership
• Time management
• Planning
• Empathy
• Communication
• Professionalism

In a Deloitte Human Capital Trends report, executives now consider soft skills critical to fostering employee retention, improving leadership, and building a meaningful culture. In fact, 92 percent of report respondents rated soft skills as a crucial priority.

Underrating the volunteer experience

Many people do not include their volunteer experience on their resume. Some reasons candidates may exclude their volunteer experience are:

• They would rather their employer focus on their professional skills
• Their volunteer experience wouldn’t fit on their resume
• They don’t think employers care about their volunteer experience

These views contradict the results of a Deloitte Impact Survey, which indicated that volunteering experience may play a significant role in developing leadership skills considered to be “must haves” for successful leaders. Findings from the study confirmed that including volunteering experience on a resume may make candidates significantly more attractive to employers.

A culture of giving back

Deloitte fosters a culture of volunteerism through various initiatives like Deloitte’s annual Impact Day, where Deloitte professionals spend the day volunteering, and Alternative Spring Break, which took place last week in Atlanta, GA. Learn more about Impact Day and ASB and how Deloitte makes an #ImpactThatMatters.