Skills-based Volunteering is Your Secret Weapon
Between school, work, social life and more – it all feels like you’re cooked even trying to volunteer.
That’s where skills-based volunteerism comes in. Many local and international charities are in need of experts in areas like admin, IT and marketing to support their operations. For us busy students, we can contribute our developing talents in these professional settings. This can add value to your portfolio too!
Traditional volunteering generally requires a physical presence: the session dates and commute are typically inconvenient and even impossible to commit to. Compare this to skilled volunteerism where you can contribute asynchronously in between classes. This is because coordination and submission are often online.
Personally, I’ve volunteered with the local social enterprise, IASH.SG. Even though I don’t have training in mental health support, I’m able to apply design skills I learned from my course and CCAs for its social media needs.
My workflow is straightforward: I design Instagram posts and reels (like the one below) and submit them via WhatsApp. And, I can easily keep track of deadlines with our shared Google Sheet.
However, my role also extends beyond what I already know as I learn to generate content ideas, specifically about psychology. Moreover, I get used to refining my work based on the feedback given by our group’s Volunteer Lead.
So, how do you get started? Since these opportunities are typically available on a needs basis, they are usually hard to come by. However, I’ve been able to find some through stalking websites like giving.sg.
Plus, you don’t have to limit yourself to Singapore – platforms like Instagram are a rabbit hole of youth-led groups that frequently post openings and/or accept applications on a rolling basis.
Start with big places like Girlhood Magazine (I’m a Graphic Designer there!). Then, see their followers, and their followers’ followers and so on to find even more gigs.
