Volunteering
Volunteering
Use your skills to change our world
We recruit experienced professionals to use their skills to make a real difference. Read about our opportunities for:
- Teachers and other education professionals
- Business and public sector managers
- Health, social development, IT, technical and other areas
This page describes our standard volunteer scheme. You can also find out information about our Business Partnership scheme for short term secondments from your employer.
Specialist assignments
Volunteering with VSO normally means a one or two year commitment. However, we now have some short-term opportunities aimed at highly experienced professionals who can provide advice at senior levels. These are short-term placements that we call 'Specialist Assignments'.
VSO Specialist Assignments can last from 2 weeks to 6 months. Our short-term volunteers have a wide range of specialist skills and they work in the same countries and on the same programmes as our long-term volunteers. Click here for more information on short-term volunteers.
Volunteer stories
Find out about the experiences of Irish volunteers overseas:
- From grass-roots teaching to advising the Ministry for Education - a VSO placement has it all! In our short
video Sinéad Quinn from Mayo describes her experience of volunteering in Cambodia:
Windows Media Player
(Dial-up) | (Broadband)
Real Player
(Dial-up) | (Broadband)
Windows Media Player is free to download from Microsoft.
Real One Player is free to download from Real Networks.
- Read Gavin Daly's article in the Sunday Business Post about Irish business volunteers in Ethiopia (article on Sunday Business post website)
- Read about primary school teacher Helen Collison's journey from teaching in North Co. Dublin to teacher training in Ghana
- Find out how science teacher Brendan Grehan worked to develop teaching methodology in Eritrea
- Willie and Lavinia Wilson write about deciding to volunteer in Papua New Guinea and the steps that had to be taken before leaving home in Belfast
What commitment do I need to make?
- Most of our volunteers volunteer for two years, although there are one-year placements for managers and primary teachers.
- Volunteers have their flights, medical insurance and pre-departure training paid by VSO. Your overseas employer will pay a local salary and provide you with accommodation.
- We ask you to fundraise before going overseas to contribute towards the cost of sending you overseas, and VSO will give you support in this. There is, however, no minimum amount to fundraise.
- The age of our volunteers ranges from 20-75, and the average age is 38.
How do I apply, and what happens next?
- To apply to volunteer, you will need to fill out a paper application form (contact us for an application form) or you can apply online.
- Your application will be assessed to see whether we will have placements matching your skills.
- If your application is accepted, we will invite you to an assessment day in London, to see if you have what it takes to use your skills to change lives.
- If your assessment day is successful, you will attend various training courses and be matched to a placement overseas.
- The usual time to be matched to a placement is between four and eight months, although in certain cases the time period can be longer than this.
- Read Willie and Lavinia Wilson's account of the application process >>
How can I find out more?
To find out more about the application process, speak to a returned volunteer or for an application form, please contact our enquiries line
Other options
If you think VSO is not for you, please look for other opportunities on Comhlamh's useful website www.volunteeringoptions.org.