Welcome to the International Voluntary and Development Work Blogspot

Hello!

Welcome to my blogspot. If you answer yes to any of the following questions then I hope that this blogspot will be of use to you.

Are you a student or recent graduate wanting to work in international development? Are you a professional working in international development? Have you or are you wanting to volunteer abroad? Are you an organisation offering voluntary placements or intern-ships?

I am second year student in Development Studies, and it is becoming apparent to me that there are many challenges to entering the development sector. High competition over jobs - the lack of paid work in relation to the amount of individuals looking to work in development, and the rising levels of experience required to be considered for particular positions make it difficult for graduates to find entry-level positions. For these reasons, I like most people wanting to work in the development sector increasingly understand the need to gain valuable voluntary experience. By volunteering you can overcome the catch-22 situation of needing experience to gain a job and needing a job to gain experience.

From my experience, once you have decided to gain voluntary experience, there are many other issues to consider. How will you finance your voluntary work? Do you want to volunteer at home or abroad? Should you pay to volunteer abroad? What organisation should you volunteer with? How do you know whether they are reputable? There are also many questions around what area of development you would like to work in and what type of experience you will need. What are the jobs working in development like day-to-day? Do you want to live at home or work abroad? What area of work will you be most suitable for? What skills do you need to work in this area and how can you gain them?

This blog has been set up in an attempt to answer these questions. The idea is that this can become a space for student-to-professional, peer-to-peer and organisational information exchange, networking and can act as a resource for all.

I encourage all to forward their experiences, thoughts, opinions, advice and useful information about international volunteering and development work to my email address (with a photo if desired) which I will then post. Organisations offering volunteer placements, internships and paid work are likewise encouraged to contact me to advertise here. For those that have already volunteered with an organisation you can also forward to me your review of the organisation and your experience with them which will help others decide whether to volunteer, where and with whom.

victoriamariepage@hotmail.com