How To Approach Companies For Voluntary Work In The Digital Sector

How To Approach Companies For Voluntary Work In The Digital Sector Here at Bubble Jobs, we know first-hand how much employers value candidates who have some commercial, first-hand experience under their belts which is why were always advising jobseekers to try and go out and get some kind of work experience. Now, as you can see from these blogs, one thing we always tell  jobseekers to do this is to go out and volunteer to do some work for a local charity or business ie. anyone who could do with an extra helping hand when it comes to digital tasks but who doesnt necessarily have the budget to employ someone to do them. As you can see from this blog, weve covered how to approach companies for digital work experience before, so today I wanted to focus specifically on how to approach companies for voluntary work in the digital sector the kind that lasts for a few months/a prolonged period, rather than just a few weeks. 1. Do Your Research: Whether its a charity or a local family-run business, the first thing that you need to do is a bit of research on the company. Look at their current digital presence and consider where you think improvements could be made. Also check out which employers they have listed on LinkedIn the last thing you want to do is volunteer to take a current employees existing position! 2. Consider How You Could Help: Take some time to consider what the companys aims are (eg. increasing brand awareness, increasing sales etc.) and how you could help them to achieve these with your existing skills and knowledge. For instance, if youre an established Twitter user, you could volunteer to take over the companys Twitter account or even create a new one and build it up if they dont have an existing Twitter account. 3. Make A Plan: Its great that youre volunteering but in order to get the company to take you seriously, you need to come up with a plan of what you want to do and what you think it will achieve for them. OK, so theyre probably not going to pay you a penny but its still their reputation thats on the line (particularly if you want to handle something like social media or email marketing) so theyre still going to need to invest in you in some way. As I mentioned in that last point; you also need to consider the companys aims and ensure your plan ties in with that. For instance; if the company mainly sells products for those aged 70+, social media probably wont be a relevant channel for the majority of their customers so volunteering to set up and handle their social media accounts would probably be a waste of time for everyone and probably wouldnt affect their bottom line. 4. Reach Out:   Once youve got your plan in place, its time to reach out. Take a look at their Contact Us page to see how they prefer to be contacted and drop them an email/call to introduce yourself and see if you can go in and meet them in person. Hint: dont send your plan over with your initial intro. Why? Because it can come across as a bit full-on and it might be a bit overwhelming, particularly if the company hasnt necessarily embraced digital fully yet. 5. Expand Your Network: Once youve got your foot in the door of that first company/charity, its time to reach out to other similar companies in other niches to see if you can volunteer to help them too. If you do this, youll start to build up a portfolio of clients which will look great on your CV and will show an employer that multiple companies have  trusted you with their digital work over the last year or so. Similarly, you never know who youre going to bump into again later in your career. Everyone who you speak to at the very start of your career will form the beginnings of your network for the future. You never know; someone who you work with now when youre volunteering might pop up later on in your career at a very valuable stage! That said; the more contacts you can make now, the better!