ClickAJob News

According to a youth volunteering organisation, employers should place more emphasis on volunteer work in the interview process.

This, argued V, would encourage more people to consider volunteer work and how it can improve the skills needed for employment, Personnel Today reported.

V's chief executive Terry Ryall elaborated that the promotion of volunteering among young people could encourage them to develop the skills so sought-after by employers at present.

He further added: "Volunteering can tap into young people's hidden talents and provide a gateway into education and employment."

A total of 87 per cent of employees value the skills volunteering can bring and see it as a positive thing, according to a recent poll carried out by the organisation.

On V's website, it claims that the benefits of volunteering are "widely understood and celebrated" and that it needs to be supported further in order to become a "natural" occurrence among young jobseekers.

Volunteering could be even 'essential', according to ClickAJob Marketing Manager Anders Jensen.

"The toughest lesson young people have in landing a career is realising that they have competition," he says.

"Too many graduates come out of university hoping to crack that first job on their degree results alone," he points out.

"Though everybody fits the mould of bright, intelligent and enthusiastic, none of them has an edge."

"But add the dimension of volunteering and such qualities as initiative, commitment and on-the-job experience and they tower head-and-shoulders above the rest," he continues.

"It's possibly the best career preparation anyone could ever have."