An Update on Volunteering your way into a New Career.

A while back I posted a blog about Volunteering your Way Into a New Job!

There have been some new career developments for me as a result of my volunteering efforts which I thought were worth sharing.

I think they highlight how volunteering can shift your career ambitions into some new and very exciting directions when you least expect it.

My previous blogpost highlighted how I had moved from Sydney up to the Gold Coast to take care of my parents who are both now in their late 70’s.

This has been a difficult and challenging transition for us all but it has also brought us closer together as a family and rewarded me in ways that my career never could.

It was also time for a change away from my career in corporate training.

However I had to factor in that my parental carer responsibilities now made full-time work problematic. I have for some time been interested in the Community Education sector and saw this as a perfect time to “dip my feet in the water” as such.

With no direct experience and limited time available I saw volunteering as an ideal vehicle into the industry.

So I’ve been volunteering for the past year as a Special Needs Literacy Tutor with TAFE and an Administrator at the Southport Migrant Centre.

So has all this volunteering helped my attempts at a substantial career shift?

The quick answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Several months ago I got a 7.30am phone call from the Manager of the Migrant Centre offering me a 2 day a week job starting in August.

And then less than a month ago I got a call from the Education and Student Support Manager at Gold Coast Institute of TAFE, Jen Smith asking me to come in for a 30 minute chat.

That 30 minute “chat” quickly turned into an hour and a half because Jen kept thinking of new ways that she might be able to use my skills.

So what exactly came from that meeting?

• Initially 3.5 hours paid work per week as a Tutor of Special Needs and Educationally Disadvantaged adults (I should add that this is at a pay rate that matches my corporate training role in Sydney).
• The possibility of additional paid tutoring work with a program assisting youth to achieve Year 10 equivalency.
• the possibility of Teaching and Assessing work assisting with a new qualification being offered by GCIT TAFE, a Certificate IV in Career Development.

So now I have the possibility of paid work in four sectors of Community Education that are totally new to me!

And just this morning Jen called me into her office to encourage me to take on the Certificate IV in Career Development because she needs me to gain that qualification so she has the option to offer me work with the new course!

I can’t believe my good fortune!

This work would be well paid (much better than my Sydney role) with flexible working arrangements that would mean I could work around my Carer responsibilities.

I could not of hoped for a better outcome!

And I can only wish you all the same good fortune in volunteering your way into not just a new job but maybe even a new career!

Tagged as: career change, job hunting tips