Oct 22, 2024
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12 min read
Adding this extra to your resume can swiftly elevate your application!
Volunteering is a surefire way to accelerate your career while giving back to the community. The fact that you’ve willingly given your time to a cause should be commended. So, don’t be afraid to brag about it.
One place you can “toot your own horn” is on your resume. Sharing your previous volunteering work on your resume is a quick way to demonstrate your transferable skills, highlight your work ethic, and showcase your community engagement.
Plus, if you’re switching careers, have gaps on your resume, or are new to the workforce, having volunteer experience on your resume can make a world of difference. In this guide, we take a look at how to list this type of work on your resume the correct way.
Key takeaways
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Before we dive into how to list volunteer work on a resume, let’s talk about why you should bother. No matter where you are in your career, you can benefit from adding this to your application.
Now that you know the value of writing volunteer work on your resume, we can talk about the right way to do it. Ahead of working on this section of your resume, there are some things you should do.
To make things easy for you, we’ve broken this part down into three simple steps:
Whether it’s pro-bono work or non-profit work, you need to make sure this experience is relevant to the vacancy and company. Start by researching the business you’re applying to work at. Is there a specific overlap between the volunteering work you did and this role? Did you learn transferable skills that relate directly to this vacancy? You can be certain that including this experience will strengthen your resume.
It’s no good simply stating that you have volunteering experience. Add detail by specifying what skills you picked up as a direct result. You can do this using targeted bullet points. Within these points, mention the skills that you either learned or developed while you were in the thick of volunteering.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out these examples where we’ve bolded the skills listed:
Hiring managers love to see results. One of the best ways to strengthen your volunteering experience section is to add some cold, hard metrics into the mix. Include either statistics or numbers in your statements as an impact measurement. This approach will give the hiring manager a clear indication of how your volunteering work changed the lives of people in need.
Let’s take a look at some examples of what you may write with the metrics in bold:
Always ask the question ‘why?’
Before including volunteering work on your resume, ask yourself why it matters. What does this experience tell the reader about you? Does it add significant value to your application?
It’s important to understand why you’re sharing this information. Armed with that knowledge, you can ensure the bullet points you include align with your central goal.
By this point, you may be feeling ready to add your volunteering work to your resume. However, where you list it depends on two things: your resume format and your career level.
If you’re scratching your head and don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. In this section, we reveal the best way to highlight your volunteer experience.
If you’re using a chronological resume format or your volunteering experience took place during a career gap, you may want to add it to your work experience. Of course, you should check that you have enough space before you do this. Add the position as you would any other role, but label it as “volunteer”.
On the other hand, you may be using a functional resume format. This structure lists your main skills and then groups corresponding experiences by them. Chances are, you’re not used to this type of resume. However, this approach works well for people who have had varied careers or career changers.
Let’s say that you have a few volunteering experiences you want to share. If that’s the case, it may be worth creating a dedicated volunteer section, which is separate from your main experience section. The layout of this section follows the same rules—starting with your position name and including bullet points.
Think long and hard about which approach you want to take. In our drag-and-drop resume builder, you can find a selection of resume templates using the different formats that make creating yours easy.
Volunteer work can significantly increase your chances of landing an interview. When applying for jobs, regularly update your experience and skills sections to reflect any work you’ve done. Remember, you should only include volunteer work that’s relevant to the vacancy and the business at hand.
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