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….

谈起志愿者的好处，很多人认为做志愿者的好处就是帮助别人过后的那种说不出来的温暖感觉。事实上，这只是其中的一个好处而已。很多人没有意识到，志愿者不仅仅是在施粥所工作、或参与和平队或当边境医生。慈善事业需要各种各样的人，做各种各样的事情。因此你可以志愿做任何事情，也就是说，还有很多令人惊叹的益处呢。例如，志愿服务……

1. Teaches You New Skills

会教给你新的技能

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.

从帮忙建网站、教移民孩子学习你的母语，到为慈善事业安排活动，志愿活动可以说是无所不包。当你参与志愿工作时，很多时候你都会面临一些挑战，就像是参与了新的工作一样。通过克服这些困难，你可以学着开始全面掌握新的技能。

2. Helps You Stay Active

帮助你保持活跃

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.

有时，当你什么也不想做的时候，就是你最需要做事情的时候。这时志愿活动就能帮上忙。志愿活动不像随便约朋友那样容易推掉。所以当你感觉很差什么也不想做，但却想保持活跃时，那你该去志愿服务了。

3. Fills Empty Spaces On Your Resumé

为你的简历增添内容

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.

如果你找工作的时间比你预想的要长，你可能会考虑志愿活动。这种方式可以证明，你不总是坐着不动，你也积极地采取行动，帮助自己改善状况。

4. Can Lead To Work

可以帮你工作

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.

我遇见一些人，参加志愿工作时并没有抱任何期望，但在工作的过程中，成为非营利组织的协调人。当然，这种工作并不是每个人都适合，但是幸运的是，志愿工作会让你清楚这对你而言是不是可行的职业路径。

5. Can Be Therapeutic

可以有治疗作用

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.

取决于你选择做什么志愿工作，有一些可以有非常好的治疗效果。很多志愿工作都能给你带来很大的帮助。我有一位非常亲密的朋友，她在开始为残疾人孩子工作后，完全变成了另外一个人。志愿工作能帮你从自己和自己的问题中跳出来，允许你以一个全新的不同视角去看世界和他人，这反过来让你对自己已有的东西心存感激，并看到自己的个人价值。

6. Can Help Improve Social Skills

可以帮你改善社交技巧

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.

如果你在社交场合觉得很难，志愿活动能帮上你的忙。当然，这不会立刻见效，但是它可以成为你战斗中的一项有用的工具。这样你永远有机会和别人交谈并可以试着和别人相处。

7. Can Be Relevant Work Experience

可以成为相关的工作经验

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.

现在很多工作都要求有工作经验，光这条就把很多人拒之门外。对某些专业而言，志愿工作实际上能让你拥有工作经验，帮你得到工作的敲门砖。很多崭露头角的记者刚开始时都为大学做志愿者写文章，通过志愿服务得到工作经验并不仅仅适用于这一职业。

8. Can Teach You What Truly Matters

能教给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.

这是寻找生活新视角的一个好方法。当你做了一段时间后，你可能会发现自己会重新评估事情的优先级别，甚至在生活中去走完全不同的一条新路。我的一个朋友原来想做律师，后来却发现自己真正有激情的事业是教学事业。

9. Helps You Make New Friends

帮你结交新朋友

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.

这一点儿也许不会让你吃惊，但可能让你吃惊的是，这些朋友会有多么真诚。我很多长期联系的朋友都是通过志愿服务认识的。

10. Helps You Expand Your Network

帮你扩展人际网络

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.

志愿服务的一大好处是，你会接触到很多人。从负面的角度看，你遇到了很多没多少共同之处的人，但不如换个角度来看，把它看成是在扩展你的人脉。你会认识各行各业的人，要是不参加志愿服务你根本就没有机遇和这些人相逢。我不是那种为了联系而去交朋友的人， 但有时有广泛的人脉网络是非常方便的。

11. Helps You Grow

帮你成长

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.

总结一下：志愿服务能帮你成长。就像我们刚介绍的那样，它不仅能让你在人格方面成长，也能让你在技能方面进步。真正的缺点是当环境不允许你继续下去时，你却发现自己舍不得离开。

So if you’ve ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?

所以如果你曾考虑过志愿服务，那还在等什么呢？