Career Development Via Volunteering at a Habitat ReStore
Volunteering at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore can help you develop skills for your career! Whether you are a student, someone just starting out in the workforce, you are looking to advance your current career, or you are looking for a career change, no matter your age, volunteering at the ReStore can help you:
Gain skills
Gain experience
Explore careers
Gain references (though note that this is contingent on your performance in a role or task)
ReStores are usually in areas that can be easily reached by public transit and most welcome volunteers of any ages. The Forest Grove ReStore requires all volunteers to be at least 16years old, and volunteers who are 16 or 17 are required to provide a signed letter of consent for volunteering from a parent or guardian.
Different kinds of volunteering in a Habitat for Humanity ReStore can give a volunteer different skills, though all provide experience in customer service, team work and communications.
Here are examples (note that each ReStore varies in how it involves volunteers and in which tasks and roles):
Volunteering on the sales floor of the ReStore can help you gain or expand skills in merchandising, marketing, sales and event management.
Volunteering in the donation bay can help you gain or expand skills in scheduling, product testing and recycling.
Volunteering to help marketing staff can help you gain or expand skills in display advertising, in-store advertising, social media messaging and management, online and face-to-face customer service, graphic design, photography and maybe even video production.
Many ReStores have volunteering opportunities regarding accounting and bookkeeping, as well as the management of other volunteers. Some ReStores also welcome volunteers to manage a book or multimedia room, or to research the value of books, multimedia and antiques.
The Forest Grove ReStore welcomes volunteers to submit blog ideas - and drafts of blogs - for the web site you are reading right now!
All volunteering at a ReStore can help you learn more about business management, people management (human resources) and leadership. Volunteering at the ReStore is also a great way to learn about how a social enterprise differs from a traditional business and how the ReStore plays such an important role in the work of Habitat for Humanity.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Forest Grove Restore, supporting West Tuality Habitat for Humanity, you can watch this video which provides an overview of the many different tasks and roles we have for volunteers or read more about volunteering at the ReStore here. The aforementioned web link has information on how to express your interest in volunteering with us.
