3 reasons how volunteering can enhance your professional career

RedLaw is a company where volunteering and support for charity is encouraged and promoted. Supporting charities and giving back to community is very close to our hearts and that of our families’ too. At Christmas, two RedLaw colleagues were privileged to run a CV and interview technique workshop session with Providence Row, one of our charitable partners, helping London’s homeless get back into work. It was a wonderfully life affirming and humbling day.

However, not everyone shares the same passion. But what if charitable involvement could enhance your professional career? Improve your career prospects and even give you an advantage over your competition?

Here are our top 3 reasons why you should get involved with charity work:

1. Support your own positive state of mind: It’s got to take the top spot. We all know life as a lawyer is demanding and can have a negative impact on your metal health. Taking time out from demands of target hours and results driven day-to-day life to help others in need will help promote mindfulness, empathy and can help to regain perspective in one’s life.

2. Broaden your network and gain new skills: Bringing these personable qualities into the workplace can also have a positive impact on your professional life – how you tackle your day job and the way in which you communicate with colleagues and/or manage a team. Working with charities is also a wonderful opportunity to build your network, extend your reach and connect with new clients or indeed new potential employers.

3. Improve your suitability: Today, more than ever, CSR programmes play a vital part in a law firm’s culture. For example, Weil, Gotshal and Manges has developed an award-winning CSR programme which encourages partners and employees to donate their time, energy, skills and expertise to pro bono and CSR projects. Any personal volunteering or charitable involvement on your CV will make you stand out from the crowd and be seen as a bonus. HR specialists want to measure how well you would fit into their culture – if your values and morals are aligned to what they want from their employees you’re at an advantage already.

I’m sure you will all now agree, all extremely valid points indeed! However, the main point from me is there are many wonderful organisations, groups, charities that really do need and deserve our support. They need our help – a lot. And if I, in my very privileged life, can give a little of my time to help, I will do it, as much as I can.

The point is that you should check out charitable websites and see how you can get involved, read the inspiring blogs, make a start no matter how small, maybe buy some brownies! (see note below). I can absolutely guarantee that you will not only be inspired and humbled but your involvement with such organisations can make you a more attractive candidate to law firms.

Notes: Amongst the charities that RedLaw support throughout the year is Providence Row. Providence Row is a homeless shelter that provides a roof (regardless of circumstances so that there is no judgement of your lifestyle at the door) but also a good lunch and help for their homeless clients with trying to get back on the job ladder. They run a wonderful kitchen which any of the homeless people can work in, using their own fresh food from a fantastic rooftop veg and herb garden! They also run a sister charity called Rise Bakery offering catering apprenticeships to homeless clients. They produce amazing brownies which is the gift that any placed RedLaw candidate has on their desk when they arrive at their new home (an incentive if ever there was one!).