Voluntary work, a springboard for employment
Voluntary work considerably improves chances of finding a job. This is the main conclusion drawn from a study within the Reconoce project, which aims to showcase this activity, in the framework of the EEA Grants Active Citizenship Programme.
10.02.2015
The report “Youth volunteering situation in employment: skills and employability”, carried out by the Confederation of Don Bosco Youth Centres, Didania Federation and ASDE Scouts Spain, shows that unemployment rate among the volunteers is 23%, well below the youth unemployment rate in Spain, which exceeds 50%.
Moreover, 39% of volunteers consider that this activity “helps to some extent” or “helps a lot” to find a job and most of them includes the information in their CV. The skills obtained through volunteering activities are mostly required in companies: teamwork, optimism and enthusiasm, communication skills and ability to solve problems.
This study is the first step of Reconoce Project, within the EEA Grants Active Citizenship Programme. The project’ objective is to enhance recognition of the contributions of volunteers involved in youth centres and leisure activities centres and to improve their employability.
The project promoters, which together make up 15,000 volunteers, are developing several lines of action: the creation of a network of ‘Reconoce organizations’ interested in recognizing their volunteers experience; an awareness-raising campaign in order to make skills and abilities known among employers; and the development of roundtables with the participation of government and youth organizations to begin an official recognition procedure of the volunteers’ professional skills.
Reconoce project is one of the 38 selected within the Active Citizenship Programme Open Call, operated by the NGO Platform of Social Action and co-financed with 4.6 million euros by the EEA Grants, which aims to strengthen civil society, social justice and democracy.