Random Acts of Coolness

Helping others by volunteering and participating in community service can provide personal and career-related benefits. Even if you start out volunteering for selfish and self-serving reasons, you may end up realizing how good it can make you feel and how much you can get out of it.

By volunteering, you can share your talent, learn new skills, gain some insights and meet important contacts. After your volunteering experience, you can feel good about your accomplishments; it can boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. If you’re like most people, volunteer work can help you become a better person.

* You can build stronger and more impressive credentials by volunteering — You can use your talent and skills in volunteer work. By having your community service work listed as part of your work history, your application for college, graduate or professional school as well as your job application will be stronger than other candidates.

* You can get career experience — If you’re interested in starting a new career or if you’re changing careers, volunteer work can help you get some training and experience in that field. You can observe people working in that field and decide whether it’s right for you. The information and contacts you get during your volunteer work will be invaluable in getting into your new field.

* You can meet and connect with other people with similar interests — Community service can help expand your horizon beyond your small group of family and friends. You can meet more people that share your interests while doing volunteer work.

* You can network with business and community leaders — You can meet many interesting people and valuable contacts while doing volunteer work. These valuable contacts can be a great source of support, recommendation, mentorship and information useful for your career development.

* You can do something fun and entertaining — If you’re bored or if you don’t have much to do during weekends or vacations, check out virtual or local volunteering opportunities. You can participate in one-time, short-term or ongoing volunteer work depending on your school or work schedule. With virtual volunteering, you can help others by using your computer or the Internet.

Helping others can help you feel good about yourself. In addition to career-related benefits, you can also get health and other personal benefits from volunteering and other forms of altruism.

Allie Mendoza writes for the SF Wellness Examiner column. If you want easy ways to live well and live life to the fullest, visit www.HealthTips411.com.