In the voluntary work you have like 8 competences to develop. Of course everyone is skilled or aims to something specific. I open myself and this time I tell you my concern. Why do I feel concern? I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT SUITS ME!!
The key competences
I put you here a summarize of what the key competences are based on. Thus you can have a slight idea if you’re not familiar within it:
- Multilingual competence: the ability to use differents languages for communication and to understand and express thoughts, feelings and facts orally or in writing.
- Personal, social and learning to learn competence: the ability to learn to learn, to manage one’s own learning an reflect on oneself.
- Citizenship competence: the ability to act responsible citizens and to fully participate in civic and social life based on understanding of social, economic, legal an political concepts as well as global developments and sustainability.
- Enterpreneuship competence: the capacity to act upon opportunities an to turn ideas into action that has values for others.
- Competence in cultural awareness and expression: it is understanding of how ideas are creatively expressed in different cultures, through differens arts.
- Digital competence: it involves the responsible use of digital technologies, communication and collaboration, media, digital content creation, safety, intellectual property, problem solving and critical thinking.
- Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology, engineering (STEM): the ability to use mathematical thinking to solve problems in everyday situations.
- Literacy competence: the ability to understand and express thoughts, feelings and facts orally, in writing or in other forms, and to interact with others.
Myself
Quite extensive, isn’t it? Well, that was my first thought too. Then, which one can suit me? The first thought would be according to my studies, sure. I’m student of Translation and Interpreter then Multilingual and Literacy competences would be suitable, don’t you think? STOP there are more competences in translation and interprerter. A translator/interpreter must solve problems and have strategies; That is literally the Personal learning competence. And do you think translators use books and paper to translate? No, we follow all the new tendencies, so we prefer to have advanced technology for typing and investigation. Digital and Science competences would also be covered. If you’re not convinced of Science, the market of the scientific translation is the most popular and the most wanted. And finally, the translator/interpreter is an hidding enterpreneur who work between societies! No, I don’t mean we are spies; I mean that we get involved in social and cultural changes and we work on it. Thus we create a business (Enterpreneur competence) of changes and interaction in the culture of the people (Citizenship and Cultural awarness competences).
Can you see? IT IS IMPOSIBLE TO DECIDE! Then, should I make it based on my preferences? These preferences are. I would like to stay in Austria and use all my knowledge to work and to live here; Once again, all competences. Should it be the preferences of the country? C’mon, Austria is a wonderful country! They are involved in all of those competences like me. My project? Exactly like the previous question. There are no one that I can focus on?
Conclusion
Exactly, there are nothing that you can focus on. A voluntary work consists on the max enedeavour that you can offer. Maybe at the end you can see what it developed more or what it did the less. This is not confusion then, it’s the truth that you are helping, that you are important and that we all thank your work. Perhaps my path is not that clear as far as you can see and I’m still not decided what should I focus on, but I know a thing: give your best on what you are doing and all it’s comming together.
José M. Gómez
What did you learn after participating in volunteering?
Well, there are a lot of things to discuss here. First of all, I would like to speak about my tech skills. Due to this crisis, we were forced to integrate EDV skills and increase our knowledge of internet and web applications that could help to the youthwork. In this point, I have to say that I spend time in a course of Google for Digital Marketing which I am currently applying for the Social Media of my receiving organization. Even now I’m trying to learn new skills in coding in order to increase my abilities at this technological part of the job that I believe all workers need at least basic knowledge.
Apart from the new logic knowledge, I want to point on the realization of the importance of youth enterpreneurship and the care of the youth status, because this is a really stressful situation that boss or volunteer must be aware of the people who are working with. We cannot forget the mental status of the people who we are caring or who are in our charge. I would not know where to apply this point in the competences from the post, yet I wanted to explain that.
For the last, I had a lot of new perspective of the world of work so my curiosity and my diligence increased as well as my capacity of learning. I had already two jobs before the volunteer project in my country, but it was part-time and I was more worried about the studies and how these combined with my part-time job and my social life. This full-time project made me a productive and really good introduction to how is the work and how is the labour life.
I hope I answered your doubts properly.
LG
José M. Gómez