How nature volunteering can help your confidence and CV

nature volunteering

Nature volunteering is nearly always available in your area. Get outdoors, meet people, save the environment – and build up amazing skills for your CV.

Nature volunteering is all about working to save the green spaces in your local area, making them sustainable for plants and wildlife. It’s great to have on your CV if you’re thinking about environmental careers, but that’s not the only reason to do it. Whatever your future brings, you can still build up a great CV from your nature volunteering experiences. And it’s great for your self-belief and mental health, too!

Ways to get involved with nature volunteering

You can’t beat using an online volunteering database to see what’s out there! I’ve been nature volunteering for six months now. I had a look on Do-it.org, which is a UK site for finding volunteering opportunities in your area. That’s where I found the Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers, who are local to me – but you are very likely to find a similar organisation wherever you live.

Once you’ve found an organisation you like, just read up on what they do and when they do it. Then, if it still sounds good, follow their instructions to join.

Some photos from my time as a nature volunteer

How does nature volunteering build your CV?

One of the best ways it builds your CV is by helping you put your Young Professional skills into practice. These are the 5 top life skills that all employers love: teamwork, communication, problem solving, self-belief, and self-management. Showing that you have these skills in your CV, cover letter and interview is really useful for job hunting.

As I went to my volunteer sessions, working in groups to restore parks, maintain wild spaces and help wildlife, I kept a little diary of how the work I did helped me build my Young Professional Skills:

Teamwork

  • Taking direction from the team leader, who knew exactly what they were doing
  • Working positively in a team with a diverse group of people – we’re talking all ages and abilities here!

Communication

  • Asking questions in order to soak up as much natural knowledge as possible from the experts (there’s no such thing as a silly question, and I’ve learned so much about what plants butterflies like and how people use the local green spaces in different ways)
  • Listening carefully to instructions, because I was keen to learn but also ignorant of many techniques for anything from raking hay to feeding horses, recognising good/bad plants and cutting down trees
  • Subscribing to the newsletter and liking the organisation on social media so I could stay up to date with everything

Problem Solving

  • One massive problem for the organisation that the website was really out of date. As I have skills in that area, I offered to fix them up with a free new website and they said yes 🙂
  • Finding new ways to handle equipment so that I wouldn’t get tired from physical activity that I was not used to

Self-Belief

  • Staying positive in spite of sometimes feeling tired, hungry, sweaty, cold from wind or wet from the rain. I found nature volunteering such a positive experience that I didn’t really care about the weather!
  • I was honoured and grateful to be given a lesson in how to coppice trees, or cut their branches in such a way that they grow back healthy. My first attempt at using a saw to coppice a tree was really bad, but I didn’t let it get to me. With help from the team leader it got better over time, and I’m proud to say I’ve learned a new skill.

Self-Management

  • Turning up to nature volunteering sessions regularly and on time
  • Bringing required kit (comfortable clothes and boots) but also organising myself to bring extras I might need like water and protein snacks to keep me going
  • Initiative is a big part of self-management. I felt so proud for taking the initiative to suggest I make the organisation a modern new website. It took a lot of diplomacy and proving my enthusiasm on volunteering days because they didn’t know me that well yet, and wanted to make sure both my skills and intentions were good. But they gave me a chance to prove myself with a test design, and my success in listening to their needs to come up with a suitable design helped them build trust in me. Initiative and bringing up new ideas in an organisation can take time, but if you break your big idea down into little achievable steps and prove yourself along the way, your idea can become a reality!
  • In another example of taking initiative, we were doing work to maintain a butterfly garden filled with UK-based plants that butterflies love. We got all the digging done but weren’t sure how to best use the space. In my free time I made a little design showing which butterfly-friendly plants could go where, and the team liked it enough to use the design as a planting guide.

How nature volunteering helps personal growth

Nature volunteering has been great for self-care because I’ve discovered I love being out in the woods, taking time to do incredible things I never imagined – like finding newts beneath tree stumps or planting butterfly gardens.

I also get a thrill from learning new practical skills, working with my hands, and learning more about how ecology, the local community and big business can work together to keep the local land green. As an example, a local community park was turned into a wildflower meadow with all the locals came to help plant the seeds – along with a couple of massive horses to stamp the seeds into the ground! I don’t see that happen in my local neighbourhood everyday. What a cool experience.

How nature volunteering can help your environmental career

If you are interested in an environmental career, nature volunteering is an amazing way in. Our team leader Mark started out in the construction trade, but nature volunteering led him to a whole new career in conservation. Another member of the team is Sulam, who first joined as a volunteer and is now an offical biodiversity assistant. And ex-volunteer Warren has got himself a job at a local city farm, we are so proud of him.

I’ve had a great time nature volunteering, and would highly recommend it. My top tip? Always tell the team about your other passion projects and skills. Your talent at organising charity events or your social media skills could help you support a volunteer organisation in ways they never imagined – and taking that initiative could make a big difference to your CV.

Tagged in: ,

Discover Youth Friendly Employers

Haven Joining Haven is more than just a job. Our early careers are a breath of fresh air! EXPLORE Aspiration Training Traineeships & Apprenticeships in childcare, dental nursing, teaching, health/social care, and business admin EXPLORE Coach Core Apprenticeships See how Coach Core Apprenticeships get you into sport careers EXPLORE NCFE Vocational Qualifications Young people get amazing perks when they work for the NCFE, with apprenticeships and more. The training is great, too. EXPLORE The British Library Work experience, internships and apprenticeships with The British Library open up a WORLD of possibilities. EXPLORE Royal Air Force There’s nothing like a career in the RAF, it’s not just a job but a way of living. EXPLORE Prezzo Restaurant Careers Prezzo offers so many early careers, from cooking great food and giving great customer service to managing like a boss! EXPLORE Surrey County Council Careers Thinking about rewarding apprenticeships and early careers in a diverse environment? Fire up your career with SCC! EXPLORE Working in local government Local government touches everyone's lives every day EXPLORE Careers in Racing Horse racing is a great career choice! British Racing is the 2nd largest spectator sport after football. EXPLORE Historic England Discover early careers in heritage for all backgrounds, skills and interests. EXPLORE Get Into Teaching You can get a teaching degree for FREE with apprenticeships! EXPLORE Pret Apprenticeships & Careers When you apply for a Pret Apprenticeship or junior role, you’ll belong to a community of achievers. Get support on your own unique career journey! EXPLORE Severn Trent Careers Discover opportunities for apprentices, graduates and undergraduates in the office and beyond! EXPLORE Environment Agency Careers Our work helps to protect and improve the environment to make it a better place for people and wildlife. Join us! EXPLORE Essex Youth Service Aged 13-25 and live in Essex? Get involved in fun activities, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and online Plan B Traineeships. EXPLORE ABP Foods Apprenticeships, graduate schemes and an AMAZING early careers academy in the world of sustainable food EXPLORE Careers in Eyecare From healthcare lab to high street fashion - you don't need a degree to open your eyes to eyecare careers EXPLORE Catch22 Youth Services Want to overcome barriers in life, whatever your background? Want employers to give you a chance? We can help. EXPLORE Coca-Cola EuroPacific Want to work for one of the most well-known brands in the world? They work hard to develop their young people! EXPLORE Generation: Free Skills Training Get FREE skills and careers training today! Generation gives you skills and connects you with employers to find a job fast. EXPLORE IHG Early Careers Discover how you can grow your career in hospitality! EXPLORE Martin Brower Careers Break into business, admin and supply careers with Martin Brower. Don't settle for the status quo. EXPLORE McDonald's Early Careers You probably knew you can get McDonald's Apprenticeships. Did you know you can also study for a FREE Management Degree? EXPLORE VHR Technical Recruitment The VHR talent academy can help you get into a successful technical recruitment career - with NO experience! EXPLORE
VHR
Aspiration Training

Email us at info@youthemployment.org.uk or call 01536 513388.

Build Skills + Confidence

Want a big boost in your life and work skills? Sign up to our free online Young Professional programme today!

Young Professional Programme

Get FREE skills training when you sign up. Get support with your personal confidence, positive attitude and coping with change!

Self Belief | Communication | Teamwork | Problem Solving | Self Management

FREE Online Courses

Boost your skills and careers confidence with FREE online courses. Complete them your own pace and get a certificate for your CV! Sign in as a Young Professional to get automatically enrolled.

Get Jobs + Experience

Find Opportunities

Looking for jobs and opportunities near you? Sign in as a Young Professional to see the latest jobs, apprenticeships, grad schemes, CV workshops, career events and early career opportunities in your area!

Latest Careers Help

Be Yourself

Mental Health

Stay Curious

Overcoming Barriers

For Students

Student Guides

For Teachers

Teacher Resources

Teachers - see how to use the Young Professional programme in your school or college, with lots of free teaching resources at your fingertips.