The Importance of the Second Job
This blog article is going to look at voluntary roles that students and staff members may undertake throughout your career. This can be designated work experiences, a job, or less expressly voluntary roles.
So a voluntary role is generally seen more as an unpaid opportunity for work experience for learners. Individuals who work in a different field may use the voluntary role or charity work to fulfil a role they cannot seek out in their present job. The overarching benefit is undoubtedly the engagement with other professionals in a different context. Learning a different skill from other professionals is so important for those with only academic knowledge. If the learner needs a specific experience to explore a job opportunity, the voluntary work can sometimes offer this.
Good examples of experience:
It generally makes the individual more successful in their work by allowing them access to new experiences that they can apply to their career.
It gives learners the chance to explore different careers before you decide on the correct pathway for yourself. If you are in the vocational fields, it is so vital to work in different fields. They need to know what you want to do, what you would not do, and areas that you may think about in more detail.
It gives you the chance to work with teams of individuals in your chosen field; it gives you an idea of their journey and how you can get there.
It allows you to explore areas within your field that you are interested in, which shows your passion. It provides your employer with an insight into the holistic you, hobbies, and interests outside of work.
It provides you with the opportunity to trial different fields if you are thinking of a move or career change before making that leap think if you want to work with dogs or open a kennel. Work at a kennel, see how to manage it try to work within different areas, and get an idea of the job, not just the image of the job.
Remember, this is a flexible approach to the job you are entering. You are offering your time and providing the workplace with an effectively free resource. You come with a relatively low cost to the business, and they can potentially use your knowledge and insights of other fields to grow themselves.
For many learners, especially in fields like Zoo collections or conservation, this is often how you get a job as you know the system, and they have a lower financial cost with training you. Plus, you have effectively been doing one long interview process.
It helps you build and develop your contacts in the field and enables you to work with individuals who are interested in the field and may themselves explore other avenues. This can be invaluable as both of your careers grow as your contacts may lead to future jobs or business opportunities.
It is a great talking point for your CV or LinkedIn profiles.
Bad examples of work experiences:
When I talk about bad work experiences, this is how you use it constructively and learn from the experience, not examples of them as if you have had or believe you are having a bad experience. You will be aware of it.
Be honest about your experience what did you find to be the negative feature was it the environment, the colleagues you were working with, or was it the job. Was the job reflective of what you would be doing if you were trained, or did they not know how to apply you to the workplace effectively? Try and reflect on it with someone from a neutral perspective, not someone with a bias in favour of you or the workplace.
Remember, you may not be the only one discussing these points with colleagues and friends constructively in some cases can help your situation. If you are finding the work demanding or the task difficult to understand, ask for help engage support that may be available, a problem shared is a problem halved. Remember not to make it personal, discuss areas that are a challenge in the job for support. Do not use it as a gossip tool.
Remember to focus on the positives, what experiences you can take from your lessons in the job, and how this can be effectively utilised in your career plan. Think from a reflective point of view what does this experience tell you about who you are and what you want to do. It is also essential to have a comparison try to work elsewhere, so you do not have a bias against a field based on one experience.
While the above largely takes the view of work experience for students, this must be recognised as a benefit for those in the working field and those studying. Whilst many individuals do not necessarily want to take on the burden of a voluntary job alongside paid work, or part-time work whilst they are studying, you cannot always find part-time work in your chosen field. This is why you must use your time effectively what value does it add to your career, does it improve your CV, provide you with business or job opportunities, does it elevate your brand. Working in multiple roles gives you the benefit of seeing yourself from different prospectives. You can highlight to employers and investors the holistic you not just the professional you. If you are active on social media, it is also worth remembering that using it as a tool can also help drive your career forward. The goal should always be to find that golden opportunity where you love what you do and are satisfied in your professional as well as your personal life. By starting a second job where you showcase more of you as a person, you attract more opportunities as the more you work with a variety of people and expand your network you enable this knowledge sharing to propel you forward. The more you surround yourselves with likeminded individuals, the more enriched your professional, as well as personal life, becomes. A second job reduces the risk for you, especially if you are trying to turn a side job into your primary job role. This gives you more safety to explore new opportunities and experiences without committing all of your time and financial resources. It is an excellent time to reflect on your financial independence as well as working multiple sources can allow you to generate revenue from various sources and not have a reliance on one single revenue stream which can give you a safety net to fall back on. This also gives you the option to explore other opportunities as financial security allows for greater flexibility professionally. On top of this, it gives you the chance to reflect on you and what you want to achieve.
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering/why-volunteer
https://agilesearch.io/blog/moving-on-from-a-bad-work-experience/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanrobinson/2017/07/06/unexpected-benefits-start-side-hustle-today/
