Is This Leadership Experience?

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I am a nursing student and I want some leadership experience as a volunteer and I've researched some volunteer positions. Which one of these sound like it would be a good match?

1position- "Mentor" for low-income, ethnic girls between the ages of 14-18. The volunteer focuses on counseling these girls on completing a high school education, etc. Would this qualify as leadership experience? I like this position alot.

2position- called, "Lead volunteer recruiters" who recruits volunteers and oversees other volunteer workers so this sounds like a leadership position however it sounds a little boring.

Which one sounds better?

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

The first one (that you like better) is not a leadership position. In that position, you would be functioning as the "front line" person who delivers the service.

The 2nd position (that sounds boring to you) is a leadership position in which you would be responsible for supervising other people who actually deliver the service. That is what "leadership" is about -- helping, guiding, teaching, inspiring, supervising, etc. other people who provide the service directly to the patient/customer/etc.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I agree - leadership involves responsiblity for directing the work of others rather than a one-to-one relationship. The first opportunity would be more applicable to the work of a preceptor.

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As usual :), llg is exactly right.

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So, how do I choose between the two. Do I go for the one that I want and is more important to me personally 'n have a passion for or do I go for the one that "looks good" on my resume? I'm thinking maybe w/ the first one there will somehow maybe have a door opened for me to step into a leadership position over time. There is this mentoring program that I would like to start (who knows when it will start I'm still a student & I haven't even told anybody about it) but it's for counseling adolescents who have been or are in juvenile detention center and providing them w/ resources, emotional support, advocacy, etc. on their lifestyle outside of the detention center. I think this is SO important because most adolescents return to jail after a few months, a year, or so. These adolescents that I will be working w/ (at least to my knowledge) haven't been in jail. They are just on the brink of dropping out of school or are suffering in their academics & probably other stuff too.

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Well, your original question was that you want leadership experience and wanted to know which position would be considered "leadership." We told you. Sounds like you think the other position sounds more appealing, which is fine. What's hard to decide? Do whichever one you want to.

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Wow talk about being very honest & upfront, a little too harsh though. You know there are countless of threads posted w/ people going off topic.

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I wasn't criticizing you for going off-topic. I was just saying that you had originally asked which position would be considered leadership experience, and you got the answer to that question. Now you seem to be wanting someone to assure you that you should really take the other position that sounds more appealing to you. If it's more important to you to get leadership experience and be able to show that on your resumé, take the "boring" position. If that's not as important to you as the position that sounds more personally appealing and engaging, take the mentoring position. You don't need to justify your decision to anyone here -- it's your choice to make. :)

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