Beyond Taking and Giving - working with volunteers: how to mentor volunteers to own the competencies gained from voluntary services and apply them in the labour market

Origin of the idea: The youth unemployment rate in the EU remains high and the forecast shows little promise of this trend changing in the near future. On the other hand, employers report trouble finding employees with necessary competencies. One angle from which to address this situation could be incidence and utility of volunteering. Besides being valuable for society, volunteering can often serve as an accelerator of a person’s career development. In order for volunteering to be most useful for the different stakeholders involved including the volunteers themselves, volunteering organizations, employers and society as a whole, with the help of coordinators, volunteers should be aware of the competencies gained and be able to apply them in the labour market. To facilitate self-awareness and personal development, volunteer coordinators can apply various tools including effective processes, personal development activities, etc. Volunteers, in turn, would have an easier time finding a job, while employers would be able to fill vacancies with more ease and volunteering would become recognized as a worthwhile activity with social and personal value. Methodological approach: Training programme will be based on principles of non-formal education. You can expect learning sessions based on experiential learning, including practicing main skills of coaching, group and individual work and focus on self-awareness and proactivity in learning. Goal: To develop youth workers competencies in work with volunteers’ learning processes and competencies gained in their voluntary activities. Specific objectives: • To develop youth workers (volunteer mentors, coordinators) competencies in their work with volunteers guidance • To provide knowledge from bigger picture perspective – discuss and reveal the linkage of the person, volunteer work and employment – how gained competencies at volunteer work could be valuable for their career • Equip volunteers’ mentors with coaching, group work tools and methods for working with volunteers’ professional and personal development • Review methods and applied practices that are being used in their daily work with volunteers: • To exchange experiences, expertise and good practices on guiding volunteers; • To raise awareness and practically develop the ways for volunteering branding concept and develop further activities. • To create environment for networking and further cooperation. Participant profile: • Volunteer mentor, coordinator experience (training is designed for practitioners, already working with coordination and mentorship of volunteers (young people) in their organizations). • Good English skills (being able to take part in discussions).