Why should I volunteer?
Your volunteering role will enable you to meet people outside of your current network and be part of a wider community.
Whichever role you take on, you will be learning new skills, which are applicable not just to BCS volunteering but to your wider professional life.
We asked some of our volunteers for advice they would give to newcomers...
Kylie Fowler
Kylie is a volunteer with a passion for events and community. She works as an independent consultant and event organiser for the Service Management & IT Asset Management Group.
“Make sure you have a clear sense of what you want to do and what you want to get out of BCS. Don’t wait for other people to tell you what to do. Think of BCS as a platform and come here with ideas of your own and ask BCS to support you with them. We will then do what we can to facilitate those ideas, but you have to be the driving force behind them. In time, you’ll need less and less help from BCS and be able to run things on your own and help others.”
Carol Long
Carol is part of the corporate governance structure at BCS and sits on the Risk Audit and Finance Committee. She's completing a year as Vice Chair of Council and also Chairs the Quality Specialist Group.
“Take the opportunities that you are interested in and fully engage with them. Don’t focus on what value you will get from the activity because payback will come in unexpected ways and may be more valuable than any trade-off you might have made. Don’t take on something just because it will be good for your CV: your heart won’t be in it and the rewards will be poor.”
Sam De Silva
Sam is Partner at CMS and is the legal advisor on data, technology and outsourcing projects. Sam makes it his mission to dispel myths and educate other IT professionals to ensure everyone is on the same page.
“My advice would be to prepare in advance. Before you begin volunteering, you need to understand what your objectives are and what you are trying to achieve. What are your reasons for volunteering - is it to put something back, or for your own personal development? You also need to acknowledge that there will be challenges both in relation to people and organisational issues and sometimes you’ll think “is it worth it?”, especially when you're not getting paid. Once you've established all of this, talk to other people about what it's like before diving in.”
