Volunteering

'Don’t wait until after you have completed your studies to get experience. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to get more than superficial experience by enabling you to take on responsibility that you would not ordinarily be given and demonstrate a depth of understanding, knowledge and commitment. If you want to stand out, don’t just rely on the work placements that are part of your course, most people will have done the same. Instead take the initiative and identify how you can make a difference and do something of value. If at various times in my life I hadn’t taken the decision to volunteer, even when there was no obvious benefit, I would not have the career I have now, I would not have had the same opportunity to travel and I would not have become an international referee selected for the London Olympic Games.' Tristan Hale, Sports Development Officer, Core Team of the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership