When it comes to benefits of volunteering, a lot of people think that’s it’s all about the warm and fuzzy feeling you feel after helping someone. As it turns out, that’s far from the only benefit. What a lot of people don’t realize is that it is not just about soup kitchens, the peace corps and doctors against borders. Charity work requires a wide variety of people, doing a wide variety of things for everything to work. Because of this you can volunteer as almost anything, which means there are some surprising benefits to be had. For example, volunteering….
談起志愿者的好處，很多人認(rèn)為做志愿者的好處就是幫助別人過后的那種說不出來的溫暖感覺。事實(shí)上，這只是其中的一個(gè)好處而已。很多人沒有意識(shí)到，志愿者不僅僅是在施粥所工作、或參與和平隊(duì)或當(dāng)邊境醫(yī)生。慈善事業(yè)需要各種各樣的人，做各種各樣的事情。因此你可以志愿做任何事情，也就是說，還有很多令人驚嘆的益處呢。例如，志愿服務(wù)……

1. Teaches You New Skills
會(huì)教給你新的技能

From helping making websites, to teaching immigrant kids your native language, to arranging events for charity. Volunteering can really be almost anything. That means that when you get involved in charity work, a lot of the time you will face challenges just as you would in a new job. And through overcoming these you learn and start to master completely new skills.
從幫忙建網(wǎng)站、教移民孩子學(xué)習(xí)你的母語，到為慈善事業(yè)安排活動(dòng)，志愿活動(dòng)可以說是無所不包。當(dāng)你參與志愿工作時(shí)，很多時(shí)候你都會(huì)面臨一些挑戰(zhàn)，就像是參與了新的工作一樣。通過克服這些困難，你可以學(xué)著開始全面掌握新的技能。

2. Helps You Stay Active
幫助你保持活躍

Sometimes when you need to do something the most, is when you feel the least like doing anything. This is where volunteering can help out. It’s a lot more difficult to blow off volunteering than a casual appointment with a friend. So when you feel like shit, and you don’t really want to, but really need to stay active, volunteering is your friend.
有時(shí)，當(dāng)你什么也不想做的時(shí)候，就是你最需要做事情的時(shí)候。這時(shí)志愿活動(dòng)就能幫上忙。志愿活動(dòng)不像隨便約朋友那樣容易推掉。所以當(dāng)你感覺很差什么也不想做，但卻想保持活躍時(shí)，那你該去志愿服務(wù)了。

3. Fills Empty Spaces On Your Resumé
為你的簡(jiǎn)歷增添內(nèi)容

If your job search seems to be taking longer than you had expected, you might want to consider volunteering. It’s a way to prove that you’ve not just been sitting on your ass the whole time but you’ve been actively taking steps that can help you better your situation.
如果你找工作的時(shí)間比你預(yù)想的要長(zhǎng)，你可能會(huì)考慮志愿活動(dòng)。這種方式可以證明，你不總是坐著不動(dòng)，你也積極地采取行動(dòng)，幫助自己改善狀況。

4. Can Lead To Work
可以幫你工作

I’ve seen people go into volunteering with no expectations, and further down the road, ending up working for a non-profit as a coordinator. Of course this line of work is not for everyone, but thankfully actually volunteering will give you a good idea of whether or not it’s a viable career path for you.
我遇見一些人，參加志愿工作時(shí)并沒有抱任何期望，但在工作的過程中，最后成為非營(yíng)利組織的協(xié)調(diào)人。當(dāng)然，這種工作并不是每個(gè)人都適合，但是幸運(yùn)的是，志愿工作會(huì)讓你清楚這對(duì)你而言是不是可行的職業(yè)路徑。

5. Can Be Therapeutic
可以有治療作用

Depending on what you choose to do, volunteer work can have a tremendous therapeutic effect. There are many options that can be tremendously giving. One of my close personal friends has completely transformed after she started working with disabled kids. Volunteering helps you look outside yourself and your problems, allowing you to see the world and other people from a whole different perspective, which in turn can make you grateful for what you already have and see your own personal value.
取決于你選擇做什么志愿工作，有一些可以有非常好的治療效果。很多志愿工作都能給你帶來很大的幫助。我有一位非常親密的朋友，她在開始為殘疾人孩子工作后，完全變成了另外一個(gè)人。志愿工作能幫你從自己和自己的問題中跳出來，允許你以一個(gè)全新的不同視角去看世界和他人，這反過來讓你對(duì)自己已有的東西心存感激，并看到自己的個(gè)人價(jià)值。

6. Can Help Improve Social Skills
可以幫你改善社交技巧

If you’re the kind of person that has a hard time putting yourself in social situations, volunteering can help. Of course it’s far from an instant fix, but it can be a useful tool in your battle. A permanent excuse to talk to people and try to get along.
如果你在社交場(chǎng)合覺得很難，志愿活動(dòng)能幫上你的忙。當(dāng)然，這不會(huì)立刻見效，但是它可以成為你戰(zhàn)斗中的一項(xiàng)有用的工具。這樣你永遠(yuǎn)有機(jī)會(huì)和別人交談并可以試著和別人相處。

7. Can Be Relevant Work Experience
可以成為相關(guān)的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)

Something that seems to stop many, is that experience often seems to be a prerequisite to get a job. With some professions, volunteering can actually help you get the experience you need to get your foot in the door. There’s many a budding journalist that got his or her start volunteering for a college or university paper, and that’s not at all the only profession this applies to.
現(xiàn)在很多工作都要求有工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，光這條就把很多人拒之門外。對(duì)某些專業(yè)而言，志愿工作實(shí)際上能讓你擁有工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，幫你得到工作的敲門磚。很多嶄露頭角的記者剛開始時(shí)都為大學(xué)做志愿者寫文章，通過志愿服務(wù)得到工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)并不僅僅適用于這一職業(yè)。

8. Can Teach You What Truly Matters
能教給你什么才是真正重要的

It’s a great way to find new perspectives on life. When you’ve been at it for a while, you just might find yourself re-evaluating your priorities, or even deciding on a completely new path to take in life. One of my friends went from wanting to be a lawyer, to discovering a true passion for teaching.
這是尋找生活新視角的一個(gè)好方法。當(dāng)你做了一段時(shí)間后，你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己會(huì)重新評(píng)估事情的優(yōu)先級(jí)別，甚至在生活中去走完全不同的一條新路。我的一個(gè)朋友原來想做律師，后來卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己真正有激情的事業(yè)是教學(xué)事業(yè)。

9. Helps You Make New Friends
幫你結(jié)交新朋友

Maybe not so surprising, but what might surprise you, is how genuine these friends are. Some of my long term friends are people I’ve met through volunteering.
這一點(diǎn)兒也許不會(huì)讓你吃驚，但可能讓你吃驚的是，這些朋友會(huì)有多么真誠(chéng)。我很多長(zhǎng)期聯(lián)系的朋友都是通過志愿服務(wù)認(rèn)識(shí)的。

10. Helps You Expand Your Network
幫你擴(kuò)展人際網(wǎng)絡(luò)

One of the great things with volunteering, is that you meet a very wide variety of people. Instead of looking at it in a negative light of meeting people you don’t have a lot in common with, think of it as expanding your network. You’re getting to know people involved in many different walks in life that you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I’m not the kind of guy that makes friends purely for connections, but sometimes it’s very convenient to have a broad network.
志愿服務(wù)的一大好處是，你會(huì)接觸到很多人。從負(fù)面的角度看，你遇到了很多沒多少共同之處的人，但不如換個(gè)角度來看，把它看成是在擴(kuò)展你的人脈。你會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)各行各業(yè)的人，要是不參加志愿服務(wù)你根本就沒有機(jī)遇和這些人相逢。我不是那種為了聯(lián)系而去交朋友的人， 但有時(shí)有廣泛的人脈網(wǎng)絡(luò)是非常方便的。

11. Helps You Grow
幫你成長(zhǎng)

Summed up in one line: Volunteering helps you grow. Not only as a person, but as we’ve covered, it can help you develop your skill set as well. The only real downside is how hard it is to leave when circumstances make it difficult for you to continue.
總結(jié)一下：志愿服務(wù)能幫你成長(zhǎng)。就像我們剛介紹的那樣，它不僅能讓你在人格方面成長(zhǎng)，也能讓你在技能方面進(jìn)步。真正的缺點(diǎn)是當(dāng)環(huán)境不允許你繼續(xù)下去時(shí)，你卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己舍不得離開。

So if you’ve ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?
所以如果你曾考慮過志愿服務(wù)，那還在等什么呢？