Nowadays, undertaking volunteer work, helping people within your local community, has become debatable theme amid our society. Despite its obvious advantages, like personal growth and work experience, there are a number of disadvantages too.
The main benefit from volunteering is personal growth and development. Once you try yourself in this field of work, you face a lot of challenges and struggles on your way that will enhance your confident and ameliorate the work that you love doing. Moreover, working with people with disabilities or other health conditions can make you change your perspective on life and show how hard life may be. Another important advantage is work experience. The moment you graduate, it is almost impossible to find a workplace and valuable work experience to try yourself and continue expanding you knowledge. That’s why unpaid work is the most common choice amid young people. Many employees value volunteer work, as it gives them a chance of contributing to society. This way, a young person’s CV become more strengthen and job prospects improve gradually.
However, this trend has drawbacks too. The chief disadvantage is financial burden. In fact, high prices for products, the need to support themselves and contribute to their family’s income make look working without any payouts like an unrealistic option. For example, a student, who comes from low-paid family, works on a part-time job to pay tuition fees may struggle to work on an unpaid work at the same time. Another crucial drawback is exploitation. Organizations may rely more on unpaid workers, using them as a free labor, instead of hiring paid staff. For instance, charity may force people to do essential tasks, like administrative work or customer service, which is not the work the volunteer was looking for initially. This extremely exacerbates mental well-being and creates an unfair situations.
To sum up, volunteering has become more common in our society. And while thinking about the personal development and improved job prospects that you can achieve, don’t forget about the obstacles, which you can face along you hard work