28 Mar 2013, 5:22 am
WestBender84 wrote:
WrongWay wrote:
WestBender84 wrote:
WrongWay wrote:
WestBender84 wrote:
WrongWay wrote:
WestBender84 wrote:
Contrary to folk wisdom, volunteerism is the least likely means of securing a job. It's just another capitalist ploy to acquire cheap or free labor.
Rubbish. You always learn something through volunteering and just because one doesn't succeed at finding a job doesn't mean the volunteering was useless.
The most useful things I ever wrought from volunteering are as follows:
1) An ultimately value-less "Certificate of Volunteerism and Student Leadership" (just a piece of paper even though I've played it up on my resume the past few years);
2) A box of old-school Christmas ornaments and blank audio cassette tapes from a volunteer center's spring cleaning; and
3) An up-close peek at what rich lakefront people do on their day off, at least while hosting parties for volunteers. The networking there didn't go too well, however, which ultimately limits the networking value of volunteering to the individual significantly having AS, as opposed to someone such as you who flaunts a significantly majority NT score.
The certificate is not just a 'piece of paper'. It will have helped your job applications, just there could be other reasons you didn't get it not related to your experience (eg they found someone else, they found someone who has less qualifications and experience but has contacts with the company, etc). Besides, what about the work you've actually done in volunteering? You must have learnt something from the experience that will help you regardless of whether you get a certificate or even mention it at all in your resume! It's not about the certificate itself, it's the journey that's gotten you towards getting the certificate that counts and only when you haven't learnt anything at all from the experience (which I doubt) then the certificate just becomes a 'piece of paper'.
My big problem was getting into volunteer positions which actually involved responsibility. Therefore, the jobs counting towards the certificate were busy work such as cleaning local park trails, reading to rowdy children who were bused in, and stuffing envelopes with some nature center's newsletter. I'm open to suggestions as to what skills others might have learned by doing those things -- which might have been lost on me, in which case I need to pretend I learned whatever I was supposed to by doing those apparently mundane chores (those being the most prestigious volunteer positions I could secure after much effort and scrounging).
Reading to children - shows communication skills as you need to engage them in the story you're reading. You mentioned they're 'rowdy', did you have any problems dealing with them? If so then you're got even more to talk about - you could mention how you've dealt with it.
Cleaning trails and stuffing envelopes - could show organisation skills. Did you have a certain way of doing it? If you were told how to do it then it shows you can follow instructions. If you had some discretion then it shows you can use your judgment. Another skill you could mention is the ability to get things done.
Other skills you might have learnt by virtue of being a volunteer (or any kind of work) is commitment, willingness to work for a cause, willingness to learn, etc.
It should be noted that my list is just a guide and isn't exhaustive - they could well be more skills you're learnt. Just think about what you've done, what skills you had to apply in order to get the work done, and what decisions you had to make etc.
Wow! I appreciate your constructive tenacity, Wrong Way. If I saw a "rep" button, then I would definitely add to your reputation bar.
There's really nothing which can change my game now, but helpful responses such as yours show there is human decency remaining in this world aside from the mass of insincere people who say, "Good luck!" and hide.
Glad to help
. But you can 'change your game', once you realise there's positives to volunteering (and any other experiences you've been through) the next step is to bring them out when you apply for jobs and sell them. That would make the difference between being 'just a volunteer' and a volunteer who's learnt from their experience and can apply it to the workplace. Whilst selling those skills may not be easy (I'm not great at it myself), I'm glad you realise there are such skills and without knowing them you wouldn't be able to talk about them in the first place. If there's anything else about this or applying for jobs in general you want to talk about, I'd be happy to do so.
_________________
A smile costs nothing
28 Mar 2013, 5:42 am
elsing wrote:
redrobin62 wrote:
Unlike the movies, in real life, employers never tell people why they're being let go. In my case, their response was, "I'm not a good fit." Sigh. You can't win 'em all but it'd sure be nice to win a few.
I have had that before.
The weirdest reason I was ever given for no longer being required was for getting on with my work and not talking to anyone.
Same here. I didnt even understand what they meant, so it was my first job and I worked hard to show my company, that I am a valuable worker. So technical everything was really fine and collegues from other departments, that knew me only from working contacts, couldnt understand why I had to go, because I worked good and had a real good knowledge and experience. But my direct working colleague couldnt stand to have noone to talk to the whole day long. When I heard of it, that I lost my job because of that, I felt as if I was made responsible for entertaining my colleague during the day, so a Clownshow or doing some artistic tricks or such things. It was my first job and while I had good skills (engineer) I needed 6 months to find my first real job (so I worked at Mc Donalds meanwhile to earn money), because of me being so bad at job interviews in the beginning. Then finally I found a job, everything was fine, everytone told me that my work was good, and on the day my trial contract ended, my chief told me that I couldnt stay because of my working colleague. I was so angry at him and simply couldnt understand his motives then.
Nowaday I understand that its not automatic weird, as you say. So people spend 9-10 hours at work, and hating to be there really ruins your life. So its not about having fun all day at work, but if you hate your work, it sucks. So for many NT it is a nightmare to be 9-10 hours in a place, with noone to talk at all.
As it is for me, if I was forced to work in a place where I had to socialize all day. Sometimes Asperger and NTs simply dont fit, without anyone having fault.
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