Volunteering vs Working Part Time

Basically I work part time in retail and I've been trying to get as many extra hours as I can over the summer break from university as I really need the money. On the other hand, I'm really worried about my CV as when I looked at it earlier, I noticed how are it was. I had little volunteering to account for and companies don't care if you've been shelf-stacking for 4 years or so.

I need to do volunteering work but I can't risk missing out on money I really need. Furthermore, it could only be for about a month and a half. The city I live in now is very big, so there would be a lot going, while the city I'm moving back to for university is tiny and has nothing, so I'm unlikely to get anything there.

Does anyone have any ideas/advice as to whether I should try to find volunteer work, whether a month and a half will actually be beneficial, or should I just work and try to make money while I have the time?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

iloveteddy14

Stick with what you have now and get the money

Nightworld1066

Reply 2

dragonkeeper999

I would say go for the money, and save up so that next summer you can afford to do a decent amount of volunteering - or perhaps you could do some during term time? Unless you find a fantastic volunteering opportunity linked to a career you would be interested in there's no desperate need to do it for your CV - many employers also value employee loyalty so sticking with a boring job for 4 years can still look good on the CV.
It's probably too late to start looking for volunteering opportunities for this summer, as they tend to take ages to get sorted - for example last summer I offered to work at a local charity shop and by the time they had chased up my referees and filled in the paper work the summer was over :frown:

Also, don't go for retail-related voluntary work as it's pretty similar to the job you have now so won't add any new experience to your CV. If you're looking for opportunities that may be near uni, perhaps get in touch with local schools to offer to help at a homework club/ run a fundraising campaign for a local homeless charity/ help with a local library reading scheme (although these tend to be more common over the summer)/ run an awareness campaign at your uni?

Reply 3

iloveteddy14

What about helping out at local an animal shelter

Nightworld1066

Reply 4

doodle_333

you're unlikely to be able to get started somewhere for so little time as it wouldn't be worth them training you and so on unless you were prepared to come back every holiday, volunteering only need for a few hours a week in most places though so it wouldnt eat into work too much

just because your uni town is small doesn't mean there wont be some stuff there, and I thought every uni had a volunteering club type thing as well?