Volunteer Work Guide - Paid, Free and Charity
By Aoife Hegarty, Posted Nov 20, 2006
Sections: Intro to Volunteer Work Types of Volunteering Why to Volunteer Why Not to Volunteer Organization Resources
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There are three main categories of voluntary work:
1) Voluntary work which costs you money. This category seems to encompass many wildlife volunteer efforts and can be seen as a way to get something back from a donation to a charity. Usually needs to be arranged in advance or runs at specific times of year. These jobs can also take the form of training or work experience geared to younger volunteers.
2) Voluntary work which costs you nothing. This is probably the largest and least formal of the all the types of voluntary work. You will usually be responsible for your accommodation and food, thus you are simply donating your time. Such work is particularly popular in Asia or other places where the cost of living is low. Often travellers will stumble across notices in hostels looking for volunteers to teach English, help with a beach clean up or at a local orphanage. Many jobs are on an ad-hoc basis and do not need to be organised in advance. The length of time involved is generally flexible also.
3) Voluntary work which pays you a wage. This is most common for professionals with experience and often includes housing and/or money to restart life back home at the end of your volunteering time. You can expect work in this category to be of fixed duration and quite formal. The application process will be as rigorous as a standard job application (and sometimes even more so!). These jobs are often a stepping stone to an international career.
I have never done the first type of work, although if I my application to volunteer with my organisation (VSO) had been rejected I was looking into doing a stint with IVCS in India, which involves making a contribution to the organisation.
In the second category, I spent a lovely 3 weeks in an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia during my travels there. I had not planned on this and have seen many similar volunteering opportunities in places like Kathmandu and Bangkok.
At present I am in the third category of volunteer, which is a totally different experience and I consider it more like job overseas which doesn’t pay particularly well.
