如何避免掉进志愿服务陷阱

    务必确保目标切实可行，别不好意思。不是每个人都可以加入和平队(Peace Corps)，也不是每个人都能参与救援从饱受战争蹂躏的国家逃离出来的难民。对于马伦来说，找到一种让她有时间陪伴家人的贡献方式非常重要。她说：“当然还有许多志愿活动比我做的事情更艰难，要求更高，贡献更大，但我选择了一种适合我自己的方式。”马伦还指出，特殊的财务状况允许她以一种不是每个人都有自由采用的方式参加志愿服务。“对于我来说，设法运用我拥有的资源去帮助他人是一件非常有意义的事情。让我感到万分幸运的是，我不必挣工资养家，所以我具备走这条志愿路径的优势。”

    想清楚你想实现什么目标之后，不要把这条信息隐藏起来。厄尔建议：“你应该与组织的联络人一起坐下来，好好讨论一下你究竟打算做什么事情。”联系志愿工作的协调人，一起讨论你的目标和你希望获取的成果。

    务必警惕不给你面谈机会的组织。厄尔警告说：“这种对话必须是双向的，同时还要确保你能够传达，并清楚地表述你期待这次志愿机会能够让你获得哪些学习成果。如果你做不到这一点，那就是一个危险的信号，赶紧撤吧。”他还指出，组织涣散的机构所提供的志愿机会往往并不是那么有价值。

    如果面试官不能回答与你的责任或日常工作安排相关的问题，他们或许会打电话求助一位志愿者，但可能并不知道这个人能否帮到你。你或许可以利用这种情况，调整你的要求。对于一些人来说，这提供了一个做大事的机会，但这种不确定性并不一定适合每个人。

    但是，即使你已经采取了所有这些预防措施，你可能仍然觉得不满意。在这种情况下，厄尔建议你有礼貌地退出。如果你已经表述了你希望达到的目标，退出就是一件更容易做的事情。他说：“现在你可以说，‘根据我们的谈话，我原以为我可以做x，y和z。”如果这些服务岗位无法改变以满足这些目标，“那就祝福他们的使命，以及他们正在社区从事的事业一帆风顺，然后登录志愿服务网站，重新寻找下一个机会。”（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    Don't be shy about making sure your goals are realistic. Not everyone can join the Peace Corps or rescue refugees from war-torn countries. For Marron, it was important to find a way to contribute that allowed her to spend time with her family. "There are harder ways to volunteer than I've done, and tougher ways where you can certainly make more of a difference, but I've chosen a way that seems to suit me," she says, noting that her particular financial circumstances allow her to participate in a way not everyone has the freedom to do. "To use what I've been given to try to help people really means a lot to me. And I am very lucky that I don't have to make a salary, so I've had the benefit of being able to go this route."

    After you've figured out what you want to achieve, don't keep the information to yourself. "You want to be able to sit down with the organization's contact person and have a conversation about exactly what you're going to be doing," Earl advises. Set up a meeting with the coordinator to discuss your objectives and the outcomes you want.

    Beware the organization that doesn't give you the chance to have that meeting. "Make sure that it's a two-way conversation, that you're able to convey and articulate what your learning outcomes will be from this opportunity. If you can't do that, it's an immediate red flag," Earl warns, noting that poorly organized institutions offer less worthwhile volunteer opportunities.

    If the interviewer can't answer questions about your responsibilities or your day-to-day schedule, they may have just put out a call for a volunteer without knowing how that person will help, and you may be able to adjust the situation to your advantage. For some people, that can offer a chance to do great things – but that kind of uncertainty is not for everyone.

    Even once you have taken all of these precautions, though, you may still find yourself unsatisfied. In that case, Earl recommends bowing out gracefully, something that is easier to do if you've already expressed the goals you want to meet. "Now you can say, 'Per our conversation, I thought I would be doing x, y, and z,'" he says. If the position can't be changed to meet those goals, "Wish them well in their mission and what they're doing in the community, and then go back to the websites and start over."