(Is Volunteer Service Helpful to Job Application?)

Abstract

Chinese Abstract: 本文尝试借助志愿服务功能量表来考察大学生参与志愿服务的动机，以及检验参与志愿服务是否对未来就业有所帮助。我们通过对来自上海世博会和来自人大经济论坛的（非）志愿者进行网上调查，发现了与以往文献一致的结论，即大学生参与志愿服务的目的在于完善自身的履历和提升自身的事业。然而，不论从参与志愿服务的广度还是强度进行衡量，均没能发现参与志愿服务能带来未来工资的提升，在控制了一些其他因素后甚至发现，参与志愿服务会对未来的就业产生负面影响。相比包括志愿服务在内的众多影响因素而言，大学生初次就业的收入很大程度上是由家庭收入所决定。English Abstract: This study attempts to examine the motives to the volunteering among college students by Volunteer Function Inventory analyses, and whether the volunteering is a good proxy for success in future employment. Micro-level data, collected by the online survey from the volunteers in World Exposition Shanghai China 2010 and the (non-) volunteers in RenDa Economics Forum, which is one of the main Chinese Social Networking Services websites, do find a consistent result as literature that the college students participate in volunteering to achieve outcomes that help them build their resumes and advance their careers. However, there is no statistically significant wage premium for the volunteering measured in extensive or intensive way, even a negative influence of volunteering on future employment exists when we control some other factors. In particular, family income largely determines the college student’s success in their first full-time income, compared with other factors including the volunteering as well.