CAN Recent Grads: The Importance of Volunteer Work
Many new graduates, especially from programs that are specialized like Certified nursing programs don’t have excessive experience, aside from their practical CNA training and education to use on the resume. Unfortunately, many employers want the best of both worlds and want the nursing student to be educated, but would also prefer that the student have experience in the field that they are being hired.
Volunteer services that are available to allow the student to partake in nursing experience, while gaining advantages over their peers and experience that can be used on the resume are available through a variety of resources.
Where can you find volunteer opportunities?
Where can you find the many volunteer opportunities that are available to choose from? Taking advantage of postings that are available through hospitals that require hundreds of volunteers every single year can be an effective way to gain valuable experience that can be used throughout the resume. These postings can be found through volunteer sectors in the hospital and often require very little CNA certification and training and can allow the student to continue their education through actual experience.
How can you develop your volunteer experience?
Other methods that the student can use to develop their volunteer experience includes through the use of clinics and private offices. These clinics and private offices are almost always willing to take advantage of help from a nursing student and this can be reflected on the resume that is submitted as an application for the positions that are available.
These volunteer experiences are an effective way to gain valuable experience that can be placed on the resume, but they can be an effective way to also gain contacts within the field and perhaps even obtain a letter of reference that can be used to entice employers and convince them that you are truly the right candidate for the job as a CNA that is being applied for.
Through the many volunteer experiences that can be taken advantage of, you can easily find a placement in as little as one week. An interview process may be required, but you can begin volunteering within a couple weeks of applying and begin the learning experience today.
