Vanessa Antunes, Operational Risk Director at Societe Generale tells us that volunteering helps the volunteer to get a more complete view of the world by understanding the situations that others face, and tells us how volunteering opportunities allow her to do something completely different from her job.

Why do you volunteer?
I volunteer in skilled-based opportunities because I want to help and have an impactful contribution to a community or to a single person. In a non-altruistic way, it provides me with a feeling of fulfilment and personal growth.

It also offers me a chance to connect to a broader community and understand difficulties that other people go through and get a more complete view of the world.

What have you gained from your volunteering experience?
I have joined several volunteering experiences with ELBA and in all of them I have gained or improved skills that I use in my day-to-day. Either through working on CVs with people with a completely different professional path than mine, or working with students and trying to keep them focused and motivated, I have improved my communication, empathy and influencing skills.

The volunteering opportunities also helped me to do something completely different from my job and feel like I had a direct (and sometimes tangible) impact, which I cannot get from my work sometimes.

Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague and, if so, why?
I would 100% recommend volunteering due to the potential impact you could have. However for someone that is more pragmatic, it can have also enhance the skills they use in their jobs. The ELBA volunteering opportunities are flexible and can be tailored to even someone with a busy diary.