My Volunteer Experience - Sophie Hood
Photo: Volunteer Sophie Hood, Capacity Building Team
It's National Volunteer Week 17 - 23 May 2021 and we are hearing from our volunteers about their volunteer experiences.
SAcommunity loves to find out more about volunteer experience from the volunteers themselves,we have been fortunate that Sophie Hood joined us way back on the 9 January 2017 whilst studying and has continued to contribute to the program, completing her last login with SAcommunity on 27 July 2021.
Volunteering has been an insightful experience, providing me with the opportunity to practice a variety of skills before diving headfirst into the workplace. I have been in the SAcommunity Team, Connecting Up at Infoxchange for over four years, and my involvement within the organisation has pushed forward my professional development, as well as given insight to the working environment. I started volunteering while studying Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide, with the aim of meeting new people, stepping out of my comfort zone to develop the soft skills you can only learn through working, and wanting to give back to my community. Now that I have completed my studies, I am utilising these skills to assist with job hunting.
Customer Service Team
Volunteer Capacity Building Team
I started my journey with Connecting Up by working heavily on updating the SAcommunity database around my university studies. This task required extensive research into various community organisations, including emailing, phone calls and web searches. I took an interest in the harder to contact groups, enjoying the challenge of thinking outside the box to develop a method of establishing contact, including contacting local councils and observing the location on Google Maps to see if any other organisations are nearby that may be able to assist. I needed to be creative with my analytical skills while doing this, as each organisation was different and required a unique approach. Each update however assisted the database in growing, helping those local communities find much needed services within their area.
Volunteer Capacity Building Team
After spending a lot of time working on the database, I took the initiative to buddy-with, train and develop training materials for new volunteers. I also took the opportunity to extend my digital literacy and learn different programs such as Camtasia (video editing software), Canva (graphics design tool), Visio (flowchart program) and recently Power BI (data analysis software). I have created infographics, how-to flowcharts, instructional videos, and data analysis summaries using these tools, each of which are being actively used by volunteers at SAcommunity. I adore finding ways to simplify processes and make learning fun for the other volunteers here.
Photo: Tina Vuong, Capacity Building Coordinator, now Customer Engagement Manager
Connecting Up Mentors
I met with a couple of staff mentors, Eric Jenkins, initially a volunteer himself, Eric transitioned into the Customer Experience Team and is now Account Manager in the Business Development Team at Connecting Up. We discussed his experiences of volunteering and employment in the organisation, and his role in working with a range of customers and subsequently suppliers in the products, services and technology fields.
I also met with mentor Tina Vuong, Capacity Building Coordinator at Connecting Up, (now Customer Engagement Manager, Infoxchange). Tina's capacity building role involved assisting with program implementation, design, and delivery for all activities targeted at the capacity development of not-for-profit organisations. She spoke to me about her work with local and global partners to build, structure and create the program, in coordinating with appropriate stakeholders in all aspects of capacity building such as project planning, monitoring, and implementation, as well as her activities in evaluation and reporting.
Photo: Tina Vuong, Capacity Building Coordinator, now Customer Engagement Manager
Connecting Up Mentors
I met with a couple of staff mentors, Eric Jenkins, initially a volunteer himself, Eric transitioned into the Customer Experience Team and is now Account Manager in the Business Development Team at Connecting Up. We discussed his experiences of volunteering and employment in the organisation, and his role in working with a range of customers and subsequently suppliers in the products, services and technology fields.
I also met with mentor Tina Vuong, Capacity Building Coordinator at Connecting Up, (now Customer Engagement Manager, Infoxchange). Tina's capacity building role involved assisting with program implementation, design, and delivery for all activities targeted at the capacity development of not-for-profit organisations. She spoke to me about her work with local and global partners to build, structure and create the program, in coordinating with appropriate stakeholders in all aspects of capacity building such as project planning, monitoring, and implementation, as well as her activities in evaluation and reporting.
Future Career Plans
Moving forward, I'm aiming to gain a job within project management. SAcommunity has taught me to be innovative, looking for unique and new solutions to problems that arise. My confidence in communication has drastically improved, and I've learned techniques to improve email etiquette within the workplace. Most of all, the feeling of coming into a group, working with smiling faces, and having an effect on the community makes the work I do feel impactful. I'm looking forward to utilising these skills as I continue to develop my professional career.
Editors Note: We are glad to report that Sophie was employed part-time by an engineering firm in August 2021 and started full-time in February 2022. It was a joy to provide a reference for her and to have her visit the SAcommunity Team at Connecting Up in September 2021 on a half-day and let us know how her new role is progressing - We always enjoy hearing from our former volunteers.
Well done Sophie!
