To say the current job market is extremely competitive is an understatement. At the moment, there is an over-supply of candidates applying for a limited number of jobs available. For certain jobseekers, the task of landing an interview is made even harder, because they fall into the following categories:
- Currently unemployed people- this includes experienced professionals and graduates who are living off their savings until they get a new gig, currently on welfare payments, or holding down casual survival employment
- Transitional people- recently unemployed experienced professionals (includes retrenched) and graduates who are new to unemployment (includes students who have just graduated from courses and early school leavers)
- Newly arrived migrants- recently graduated from a local institution, and migrants who have come here from professional backgrounds overseas (the assumption is they are not working in their preferred fields in the local market)
- Returning to work people- carers and parents returning to workforce (have had period of “unemployment” as they have cared for others)
These jobseekers face significant hurdles in trying to bridge gaps, validate experience and verify authenticity of employment. Common questions asked by recruiters include:
- What have you been doing in the meantime whilst looking for work?
- How have you kept your skills up-to-date?
- Besides your qualifications, why do you think you are suitable for this new job?
- What were you doing between this period of time?
- Why are you applying for this lower-end job when you have a lot of experience?
- Tell me about your current experience in relation to this new job?
- Tell me about your local experience?
- What did you do after you graduated?
- Who are your referees that can vouch for the required skills?
- Do you know how to use this particular software?
My solution is for jobseekers to consider undertaking a voluntary work placement / professional internship, whilst they look for preferred career employment.
Voluntary work may not be for everyone. For some, it is impossible. I appreciate that some internships allow you to get paid, but let’s assume you won’t, so we are all on the same page. I am proposing unpaid, voluntary work. I am proposing that for the groups mentioned above, it is a viable solution that should be considered immediately to enhance employability.
Here are my ABCs of volunteer work and internships and my reasons:
- Advocacy: In today’s market, having current “local” professional referees make an explicit difference. They act as “guarantors” that you are who you say you are. Period. Credible local industry professionals willing to put their reputation on the line for you matter and should be on your résumé. Having referees from current experience can help leverage your appeal- it’s not what you know, but whom you know.
- Bridges: Fixing gaps in unemployment or work skills are an issue for many jobseekers. A voluntary work placement / internship can fix this. Critically, your current or most recent job, despite being voluntary, carries the most weight with employers and recruiters, who want as many guarantees from you to mitigate the risks in choosing you.
- Currency: Today, voluntary work is as good as paid employment as it shows you are willing to work hard to maintain skills and experience that are “current.” The thinking behind this focuses on employers choosing candidates who don’t require a lot of investment- including training, education and induction. It is too much of a risk to choose someone who doesn’t know about key software, processes or pressures.
There are many benefits to completing a voluntary work placement / internship including:
- Improving localised language, communication and interpersonal skills
- Acquiring exposure to a specific workplace culture
- Developing strong teamwork skills balanced with the exercise of individual responsibility
- Gaining real hands-on, current experience within a local industry
- Putting to practice knowledge learned from an acquired qualification
- Gaining an opportunity to practice a passion or interest
- Acquiring exposure to specific industry practices, processes, softwares and systems
- Acquiring exposure to unique pressures and expectations within a specific environment
- Gaining credible professional referees
- Building specific industry contacts and networks
The pay-off is explicit. However, it comes down to how necessary you think it is to make this supposed sacrifice. People who think it is wrong to do work for free need a reality check. The negative questions conjured up about voluntary work shouldn’t be about morality. It should be about sustainable pathways to success. In today’s highly competitive market, voluntary work has explicit benefits for all consenting parties involved.
I have many clients who work two or three jobs. They are doing voluntary work in their preferred career areas, whilst doing something else completely unrelated and possibly menial just to survive. Many do not receive welfare support.
These clients understand the end pay-off, despite the initial trade-off. They understand having a degree doesn’t make them unique. They understand local and current referees matter. They understand the questions being asked in interviews. Consequently, they value how their immediate investment in voluntary work is a reliable pathway to success.
I personally have had great success with clients that have completed voluntary work placements / internships. Of the hundreds of clients I have helped organise voluntary internships for- one hundred per cent of them have found career employment. Organising voluntary internships is a service I offer through my company, Career Insight.
My recruiter contacts are very thankful for my intervention in helping get “nearly-there” candidates over the line and to a point where they are marketable.
In some cases, the employers that originally granted them to do voluntary work within their organisations hired them into paid employment, once positions became available. They were considered “internal” candidates for advertised vacancies, which made them the front-runners for jobs. A win-win-win for all parties concerned.
Overall, voluntary work placements / Internships are not a long-term solution, but are an immediate, short-term solution, where there are also benefits for employers, as they are getting an extra set of hands to undertake specific tasks important to the business.
I don’t believe what Tony Abbott says that unemployed people can’t be choosers. That is wrong. As a career counsellor that goes against everything I stand for.
Hence, I believe if you are truly passionate about a particular line of work, then you need to do things to be relevant and stay relevant; you need to make sacrifices that are short-term, but have a long-term effect; and most importantly, you need to be willing to act on your career aspirations and not just talk about them.
