
Safety professional Vincent Poggioreale is the safety supervisor and coordinator at B&V Contracting, a construction service located in Yonkers, New York. Besides being an OSHA 30 and OSHA 10 certified safety professional, he is also a certified NYC building superintendent and site safety superior. Vincent Poggioreale is an avid volunteer at Lions Club and Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society’s cancer walk.
Volunteering entails intentionally offering to do something without being asked to or expecting payment. Most people looking to volunteer sometimes have difficulty knowing where to start. The following tips will help you understand what to do as an intending volunteer:
1. Checks your skills
Consider going for volunteering jobs that reflect your personality or require your skills. Several volunteering positions want people with previous experience working with some specific equipment, for example, computers. Volunteering with skills that you are familiar with will ensure you begin without preparing or training for it and allow you to do what you like while giving back to society.
2. Be realistic about the amount of time to commit
Make sure you are realistic about the amount of time you can commit to volunteering. The reason for doing this is so you don’t exhaust yourself, neglect your job, or allow your inconsistency to affect the organization you intend to help. Make sure you spend some time there before making an extensive commitment to decide what works for you. It would be unfair to everyone involved, including yourself, to commit to what you cannot fulfill.
3. Don’t waste resources
Most times, volunteers need management and training. As such, ensure you are ready to give back as much as the organization is giving to you. If you can, ask for more supporting roles in high priority programs that require your knowledge. The emphasis should be on making an impact through that organization and not for personal benefits.

