How volunteering can change your life

You are volunteering not only for emotional connect or service to the society -- though that may be a larger aim - but it will get some hands-on experience and that is very important as well.

Both complement each other. It should start from school where students can identify with a particular cause or organisation and pursue it through college, learning and improving their perspectives on social development. In India, NGOs generally pay very little remuneration as compared to a regular corporate job -- maybe one fifth of the regular job salary. But the rewarding experience can be weighed in gold. Because, once you get into a regular job, you will never find time to do social service.

Sooner or later, if you choose to get married and start a family, your daily chores, work stress will leave you with no extra time to devote to social service. Therefore you can devote this time during school and college days for social issues to gain a different positive perspective.

Teaching others is a great way to learn

When you teach someone, several things happen at once:

v Your own knowledge of the subject gets refined.

v You learn to explain one thing in several different ways.

v Your confidence level gets boosted.

v Your skill of articulation as well as communication improves drastically.

v You get a great sense of achievement and satisfaction you can't measure with money.

I have seen very successful corporate senior executives who teach at colleges. Although they earn enough, some love to teach as it gives them satisfaction. In good management colleges corporate faculty is the best way to give our students loads of practical experience through such lectures.

As a fresh graduate you can teach a friend next door or your younger brother or sister. If you are confident, you may reach out to a larger number of students in a group and conduct classes. Besides academics, art and craft is another great way to share knowledge and expertise. Once you have done this with all your heart and soul, you can utilise this for any job interview. Make sure you collect some signed testimonials from your students. Great careers have come out of teaching others.

(The writer is the former director of Pune's Symbiosis Institute of Management and the founder of Management Institute for Leadership and Excellence in Pune)