[Coral-List] Sarah Pearce = Hero Volunteer

[Ian Baxter]

Hats off to you, Sarah, for your willingness to offer your skills on a pro bono basis as you shoot for the stars (to infinity.... and beyond?).
How quickly people can people jump to conclusions (perhaps they should make this a new Olympic event?)... and end up with egg on their face.
The value of volunteers must NEVER be under-estimated.
One of my mantras to those hoping to enter the workforce :
“Don’t bother looking for a Job – there aren’t any. BUT everyone who has a Job has too much Work to do. So if you present yourself as a solution to their problem, there may be an opportunity to get some Work for yourself – be that voluntary (until they can see that you are actually a help, not a hindrance... and that you are a Nice Person to work with) or paid (the larger companies I’ve worked for recently have been unable to take on volunteers as they would not be covered by their insurance, so we’ve had to pay people [perhaps on a casual basis at first] – dayum!).”
An Executive Summary of that mantra:
“Look for Work, don’t look for a Job.”
>From a personal perspective, without all the volunteer work I did whilst completing my Masters (for poor struggling PhD students whose grants didn’t extend to paying for field assistants), I wouldn’t have landed my first Work in the marine consultancy game 31 years ago. No, I didn’t have a Job for the first 10 years, but I had truckloads of Work (on a casual basis). I followed that with 16 years in a Job (there’s a term in Oz, ‘Salary Sacrifice’, that doesn’t only apply to superannuation)... but now I’m back Working again – phew!
All the best for a stellar future, Sarah – and I sincerely hope that some on Coral List (those can’t afford to pay people for their GIS skills) will take up your generous offer.

Best regards,
Ian Baxter, CEnvP
Principal
SEAPEN Marine Environmental Services
Seapen22 at outlook.com
Tel: +61(0)409663369
www.linkedin.com/in/ianbaxtermarine