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Extracurricular activities should not be purely resume gains (Discussion)

acrosstheuniverse said – Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:29:23 -0000 ( Edit Link )

Throughout high school and beyond we’re told to pick extracurricular involvements that will “look good on our resumes”. But do people really pick their hobbies like that? Or their volunteer abilities? I for one have volunteered in what matters to me and what I’m interested in and think that involvement purely for resume status takes away from your passion for the involvement in the first place. I think from your interests can spawn opportunity in the job market, however I don’t think volunteering should be done just to be written onto a resume.

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oLahav said – Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:32:16 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

In a perfect world, you’d be absolutely right.

But this isn’t a perfect world, and as long as it gives some people incentives to volunteer while they otherwise wouldn’t, I think it’s a good thing. Sure, some people (like me) look at volunteering as a good, obvious thing. But others don’t, and if we can get them to help this way, why not?
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laurellion said – Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:30:05 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

In the Ontario school system every student who begins secondary school in Ontario is required to complete 40 hours of community involvement in order to graduate. This is both good and bad. Good for groups that need volunteers… and a little bad for those that did already volunteer and now have to do more if they want it to stand out on their resume.
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1. oLahav said – Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:09:16 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
  
  Trigger finger, sorry.
  
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2. oLahav said – Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:23:10 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
  
  I agree actually, it’s both good and bad, for the reasons you included.
  
  It’s also bad because a lot of people volunteer for the wrong reasons, which make them hate it and not volunteer later on. Some go as far as faking their 40 hours (I know too many of these people). After all, nobody should be forced to volunteer, right? It should be done to help the world, not your resume and diploma.
  
  And it’s also good because it encourages competition for who volunteers the most and gets the most hours. In my school it was a fierce competition- I had over 700 (legitimate) hours and still lost. And with so much volunteering by high school kids, there’s hope that when they’re adults and able to help out more, they’ll feel good about doing it.
  
  I think overall, the good outweighs the bad though. We’re helping people, who cares why or how.
  
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