Allow us to assist you in evaluating your volunteer experience and in planning for the future. You will discover that the re-entry process is ongoing; it is very likely the issues that come up as you evaluate your volunteer experience will surface again. Some of the following questions will assist you in making career choices, and others will assist you in lifestyle and personal choices.

These questions are intended to be thought-provoking, to facilitate reflection on issues that may arise as you complete your experience as a volunteer. We suggest that you record your thoughts and answers in your journal or another permanent location. Find a quiet spot, take your time and enjoy this opportunity to appreciate your experience as you begin to look toward the future.

Questions to Help You with Your Professional Skills

1. What did you do professionally as a volunteer? Write a brief job description, emphasizing tasks done and specific skills required. What skills did you acquire? Specifically, what are you proud of? What did you enjoy?

2. Beginning with your current position, list both volunteer and paid experiences, and skills you gained through those experiences. For example, you may have skills with the young, the elderly, the sick, or the poor. You may have taught, edited a newsletter, or coached a team. Which of these skills did you enjoy using? How could you use them in the future?

3. What skills and talents that you developed as a volunteer would you like to continue to develop? How could you do this?

4. If you could create your ideal job, what would it be? What further experience or training would it take? How could you get that training or experience.

Questions to Help You with Your Personal Choices

1. How have your personal goals changed or developed since you began your volunteer experience? What are your personal goals now? For the next five years? How can you move toward your goals?

2. What has helped you to grow as a volunteer? How can you incorporate these things into your life once you leave your volunteer placement site?

3. What people supported you as a volunteer? How have they contributed to you? How would you like to acknowledge them? What sort of relationship would you like to maintain with them? How can you best do this?

4. What have you learned about working in a group? How do you work in a group? Are you usually a participant, a leader, or an observer? How can you use this information about yourself in the future?

5. What have you learned about how you respond to and give criticism? How would you like to grow in this area?

6. How easy/difficult has it been for you to share your volunteer experience with your friends and family? What would you like to share with them? How can you do this?

7. How easy/difficult has it been for you to share your faith with others? What growth have you noticed in yourself in this area?

8. How have you developed your listening skills as a volunteer? How can you continue to do this?

9. How have you developed your organizational skills -- both personally and professionally -- as a volunteer? Have you found structure to be helpful or confining?

10. How idealistic/realistic are you? How has your volunteer experience influenced this?

11. What have you left undone as a volunteer? How can you be at peace with what is undone?

12. As a volunteer, what opportunities have you had to know yourself better? What have you learned? How can you continue to know yourself better?

Questions to Help You with Your Lifestyle Choices

1. What have you discovered about success? For you, what is "success?"

2. What have you discovered about your relationship to material possessions and status?

3. What have you learned about your judgments of other people? On what do you base your assessments?

4. How flexible are you? How do you respond to new and unexpected twists in plans? How do you react to unusual or unexpected requests?

5. What have you discovered about your ability to live with others? What did you like? What did you not like? Would you do it again? What would you look for in a community?

6. What have you found out about your need for privacy? What have you found out about your need for personal time (i.e., vacation, retreats, days off, quiet time)? How can you accommodate these needs in the future?

7. What have you learned about your ability to take orders? To give orders? To manage others? To be managed?

8. By becoming a volunteer, you chose a path uncommon to many. How did you feel about being a role model? How do you feel about having your lifestyle under scrutiny?

9. How has it been to live on very little? How do you feel being on the receiving end of others’ generosity?

10. What has being a volunteer meant to you?

Questions to Help You with Your Service Choices

1. What has ministry/service meant to you? How has your volunteer experience shaped this?

2. What have you learned about being a lay person in the Church?

3. How has your volunteer experience affected your relationship with God?

4. How has your prayer life/spiritual journey changed?

5. What place do you want service to have in your future? What do you want to contribute to your: community, family, or local church? How can you do that?

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You may have discovered that you do not have answers for some of the questions or that the answers are just not clear to you. Use this booklet to help you work through those questions.