How your identity as a Student Volunteer can affect YOU when receiving a paid role.
I was selected as “The University of Adelaide Vice Chancellor’s 2019 Student Volunteer of the Year” in December last year.
In May this year, I created a 2020 National Volunteers Week segment to be broadcasted on Channel 44 Adelaide.
I interviewed 6 student volunteers in reflecting on the emotional, social, and professional aspects of volunteering.
“I found to be a great privilege and something that I look back on with great fondness.” — Nat, Royal Adelaide Hospital.
“This type of volunteering was very special to my heart as I was a premature baby when I was born and I really just wanted to be there to help.” — Chayse, Life’s Little Treasures Foundation.
“It really was a culture shock for me — and it made me realise that I wanted to play a part in the solution.” — Lazaras, The Don Dunstan Foundation.
“We empathise others’ feeling and thoughts because encouraging people is a key to establish a strong community bonds.” — Chloe, University of Adelaide.
“I can gain valuable experience that I would have been lacking and apply it when I seek a paid role.”- Nicholas, TAFE SA.
“I always had reward in the back of my mind ‘how will this help me’ but now without much effort, I say ‘how can this help others’” — Yeganeh, International Student Support.
I was motivated by my childhood dream to become a TV Presenter/ Journalist since 2009 when I learned English from a children’s free-to-air television channel at home.
My aim was to break out of my comfort zone, from an introvert to an extrovert, by undertaking public speaking roles.
I completed a total of 1,300 hours of extracurricular activities for enhancing and advancing my personal & professional development skills of community and campus volunteering.
I use these volunteering experience including workshops, industry seminars / webinars and internships to gain clarity for my career path.
Over the years, I developed from a shy girl to a confident person who is willing to do anything to build effective communication skills- Verbal, Written, Visual, Non-Verbal, Formal & Conversational.
If you would like to know about the negative aspects of being a Student Volunteer, read my story below.
A month later after receiving the award, I was offered a job opportunity which turned into an unpaid gig from January to March 2020.
My role was to edit and add watermarks on photos. This was communicated through LinkedIn after I met the person at a networking event on campus.
However, the person demands additional requests such as liking the company’s Facebook page, writing a review, inviting my friends to help them gain leads, and being the content writer.
“Do you want to be the first person to like it? I’ll give you the first honor.”
Red Flag 🚩
Throughout this period, we met two times to discuss my skills and abilities.
The person emphasised my award as a “Student Volunteer of the Year” with hollow compliments.
Red Flag x2 🚩
Content writing was one of them but paperwork about whether my role as a volunteer or an employee were unspecified.
The person says “I don’t currently get paid to those but see that I would in the future.” followed by “I’ll pay you soon.”
Red Flag 🚩 x3
In my journey of being a volunteer, each company / organisation has given me a paperwork before commencing the role.
Red Flag 🚩x4
I did research about the person’s company as well as the startup. There’s been only 1 review on the page with minimum photos.
Red Flag 🚩x5
I told the person my Facebook presence is low to avoid the special requests of undertaking the responsibility of social media marketing and sales.
At that stage, I told the person that I will be busy when my final year of University starts in 2 weeks so I won’t be able to help with the startup.
Two weeks later, the final year of my studies began and I realised all gigs and freelance projects must be paid.
In May, I reflect on the conversations and understood what I was unaware of. The person is taking advantage of my skills.
This is the key message of the story:
Don’t let the identity of a student or a volunteer make you think you should do the work for free. View yourself as a young professional.
- Cheryl Wong
I recently came across an Instagram post by Kei Maye, the caption states:
“If you have any special requests-pay me. No one is entitled to your labour. You cannot please everyone and its a fruitless mission ever trying to. You shouldn’t expect any labour with no recompense, be it emotionally, spiritually, financially or physically. Entitlement is a soggy soggy thing.”
In my free time, I film my IGTV videos and attend media / journalism webinars to keep up with the current industry insights, view my journey via LinkedIn.
NOTE: This article will not be monetised as it include images and texts from third parties. It is to provide a positive and negative aspect of being a Student Volunteer.
Follow Cheryl Wong to discover my path in reaching my childhood dream or to create your volunteering strategy through my story.
