How and where to find voluntary work

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Im about half way though my A+ self study and because i have no hands on experience i would'nt mind a voluntary job working in I.T somewhere.

What sort of companies or type of work could i ask and could this be done by sending in my cv and asking for voluntary work. Its a shame i dont know anyone in the field.

If anyone has had any experiences working as a volunteer it would be good to share

 

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Best best is to circulate your CV and be clear that you're just looking for voluntary work.

Two threads found using the search function (hint hint) are:-

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread31274.html

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread29578.html

Others are out there, go digging!

Hope this helps,

Qs

 

Don't know if it was a joke,but last time i went to the citizens advice bureau,which is a uk charity, they said did i want to do pc work for them.Might be worth a try.They knew i was doing pc repair,but i didn't ask further,with knowledge like ours it's hard to give it away totally free.

I've been doing this since the year 2000,and spent huge amounts of time already fixing pcs years ago,so to give the lot away for nothing doesn't seem right.

I have had thoughts of working for a charity abroad, in africa for example repairing all donated pcs,but it was just a brief thought.

Anyway i'm sure you'll get charity work fairly easily,after a few weeks you may get fed up giving your services away though,i used to do charity work as a painter and decorator.

Try any of the established charities in the UK,it shouldn't take you more than 5 days to find a place.

 

charity organizations will look for free IT people

 

It can be tough to get volunteer work on a scale greater than just helping someone get malware off there home PC etc, but it can be found.

My first opportunity came through a colleague who was leaving to start his own business, I offered to set-up their IT for them at no cost and he jumped at the chance. He actually insisted when I finished that he paid me for it, was still volunteer work at heart though Was really great experience assessing their requirements and working out the best value approach to meeting them.

The 2nd one was a small charity which a friend works for, they had the usual complaints of things being very slow/unreliable etc. They weren't looking for help as they, like many others I expect, had just learnt to "put up with it". Once I offered though they were very grateful and it was interesting to see how things were set up. . . 4 Daisy chained ADSL filters with just a phone plugged in at the end was a highlight!

I now have another opportunity through someone who works for a charity at church. They require pretty much the same thing but I am approaching this one much more professionally as I don't know them as well as I did the other people.

It's hard to say where to find the opportunities but mine have come from just telling people what I do for a living and that I am constantly studying/looking for opportunities.

There are groups available such as http://www.itcanhelp.org.uk/ and others http://bcs.org.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.22058 .

I think I have been especially fortunate in the chances I have been given, keep looking though, the confidence boost and the experience pays you back ten fold for the time you put in!

 

Where or who do you currently work for Tysfoot?
Do they have an IT department where you are?
I work in a factory on the shop floof and will be asking in the IT Dept (only4 of them that work in there) to see if i can stay behind after a shift each week and do a few hrs "to help me with my course" even though ive completed 1.

 

The tricky part of this would be if you don't know enough of the A+ ,and are practising on other people's pcs as you go along,a single mistake could cost you £100 upwards,and since you are working for nothing that is something to take into account.

I've never once made a hardware mistake while fixing a pc for anyone,i've normally done the reaseach before i began,i spent a few days reading about how to install processors before i began doing them,if i had made a mistake,the cost for one mistake,with a processor or motherboard for example at that time would have been £120 to £200 for an error.I had no shortage of people wanting pcs built for free.
I've seen someone else make a simple mistake,it cost them £130 for a new motherboard to replace a brand new one they wrecked.They had no experience of installing pc hardware.
I've also seen people make big hardware mistakes on my A+ course.I can understand why the colleges limit the stuff we are allowed to do.

What i would say about practice is you learn how long it takes you to do jobs,if you stick with the A+ you'll learn how to do jobs quicker,and more efficiently,instead of trying out half a dozen bits of replacement hardware to solve a problem you'll often narrow it down to a couple of possibilities.
If you are doing a repair at someones home you don't really have the option of trying out two of everything.

 

Well i've just drafted a letter to send out to my local pc repair shops and businesses and anywhere i think it may be viable. I think in times like these with the current economic climate businesses would be mad to turn down free help and it will only be for one day a week as i am currently engaged in full time employment so hope fully it won't be too soul destroying?

Good luck with it anyway pal.

Bill.

 

Tys, you could also try http://www.do-it.org.uk/

I used them last year and got a volunteer placement at a local organisation that took in "obsolete" IT equipment from local authorities and other large organisations, repaired/rebuilt/refurbished the equipment and then sold it to the general public. I spent a lot of time repairing and building/re-building dell computers, but I also got to advise customers in the shop and play with a few few servers that were donated.

They might have something local to you.

Just be aware though that all volunteer organisations are going to make you jump through a few hoops before they let you volunteer - you can no longer just turn up and help out. Most times you have to complete application forms, provide referees and have an interview and it is a process that can take a while from application to acceptance.