First impressions do matter and it’s a fact no matter where you are. Like, your resume will be your first impression that a potential recruiter will have during the job search. This raises the question: “How can one make their resume stand out in a sea of job applications?”
You make an effort to make each section matter and volunteer experience is especially advantageous for this purpose as it will reflect real value. This section can be a great method to highlight your abilities if you’re just starting out in your profession or even if your resume lacks employment experience.
Moreover, it shows that you are not simply another applicant running behind money but also someone who values community service. However, understanding the best possible way to utilize the benefits of volunteer experience is a must and this article will help you do so by letting you know every little detail!
Significance of Volunteer Experience
Some of the many reasons of why employers value volunteer work even though it may not be compensated are:
Showcases Transferable Skills: Project management, leadership, event planning, communication, and fundraising are among the many talents required for volunteer positions which can anytime be applied to paid jobs.
Emphasises Passion and Dedication: Participating in volunteer work demonstrates your dedication and contribution without thinking of monetary gains. It also implies that you’re proactive, considerate of others, and prepared to contribute beyond self-interest.
Fills Employment Gaps: Volunteering can cover gaps on your resume and shows that you’ve been busy and productive, whether you’ve been unemployed or switching fields.
Makes You Unique: Hundreds of resumes are frequently reviewed by hiring managers but your volunteer experience can make you stand out by showcasing your personality and distinctive experiences.
Should You List Volunteer Experience on Resume?
Volunteer work can definitely be included on your resume as it shows your sincere interest in a certain topic or field. Employers appreciate initiative and a willingness to go beyond the call of duty and can be more in your favour if it is related to the field you’re applying to.
You might not have a lot of relevant paid experience if you’re a student, recent graduate, or someone changing careers. However, you have the chance to showcase your abilities through unpaid experiences, whether they are general transferrable capabilities or a particular skill set that isn’t evident in your paid experience.
Think creatively when it comes to volunteering which involves unpaid internships or even working with nonprofits and start-ups. All these volunteer experiences should be on your resume if it shows that you have the necessary familiarity or abilities.
Situations When Volunteer Experience is Essential
You should list volunteer experience on your resume when it enhances your application and demonstrates characteristics that fit the position you’re looking for. Some examples where listing community service on your resume may be advantageous include:
Early in your career: Volunteering can help you add meaningful experience to your resume that showcases your skills and abilities if you are a student creating one without any professional experience.
Recent Graduates: Volunteering on a resume helps show initiative and skill growth in the absence of substantial professional experience. It’s particularly helpful for indicating soft skills like communication, teamwork, and time management.
Changes in Careers: Volunteering in your new field can act as a bridge by giving you credibility and real-world experience if you are switching from one sector to another.
Extended Career Gaps: Community service shows that you have maintained your involvement and sharpened your talents, reinterpreting the gap as an opportunity for growth rather than a drawback.
Returning or Retired: Volunteering can demonstrate your continued involvement, connections, and knowledge of business trends even if you take a break or return back to work.
When applicable: Mention unpaid experiences if it has a direct bearing on the position. For example, volunteer work with comparable organisations exhibits relevant management abilities and expertise if you’re seeking for a non-profit management post.
When to Overlook Volunteer Experience on Resume
There are some circumstances in which volunteering might not be suitable or necessary to mention even though it can be a great addition to countless resumes. A few of these circumstances where volunteer experience shouldn’t be listed on your resume are as follows:
When you have a lot of professional experience: Put your professional achievements first if you have a lot of relevant paid experience under your belt unless volunteering complements a lot to your application or exhibits a special skill.
When it’s irrelevant to the job: It’s recommended to ignore volunteer work off your resume if it doesn’t highlight abilities, experiences, or credentials that are directly applicable to the position you’re seeking for.
When it’s too out-dated: Volunteering from many years ago might not be valuable, particularly if it’s out of date or you have more recent experience. Highlight your volunteer work during the last five to ten years to keep your CV current and short.
When taking unnecessary space: Volunteer work can excessively lengthen your resume if it is already crowded with important experience and accomplishments and can be ignored in that case.
When it could lead to bias or controversy: It is highly recommended to not use volunteer experience if it involves delicate political, religious, or social issues that could lead to bias or divert attention from your qualification.
Best Practices to List Volunteer Experience on Resume
There’s always a way to do things right and it is the same when talking about volunteering. Some of the do’s and don’ts are listed below to help you understand how things work
Do’s to always include:
- Include the volunteer work if it demonstrates transferable abilities, is relevant to the position, or you don’t have much other paid work experience,
- Provide the volunteering organization’s name,
- Include the dates you worked at the establishment,
- Emphasise your achievements in the position, and
- Include it if the organisation to which you are applying offers corporate volunteering or is a charity, non-profit, or non-governmental organisation.
Don’ts to frequently avoid:
- Do not include it if the volunteer role is not current or relatable
- Do not include your volunteer work if space is limited and it is irrelevant because relevant ones should come first.
Where to List Volunteer Experience on Resume?
You can add your community service in three sections of your resume depending on the kind of experience you have, including:
Experience Section
Your volunteer experience should also be listed in the work experience segment of your resume if it is actually relevant to the position you’re looking for along with your paid roles. Include three to four bullet points in your experience section that underline any noteworthy successes and the skills you learnt from your volunteer work. Examples of volunteering along with its resultant achievements include:
EXPERIENCE
Marketing Coordinator
BrightWave Solutions, Los Angeles
January 2023–Present
- Developed and implemented marketing strategies that raised brand awareness by 30% over an eight-month period.
- Administered social media accounts, increasing engagement with relevant material and gaining 25% more followers.
- Designed promotional materials in collaboration with the sales team, which increased customer acquisition by 18%.
Volunteer Event Manager
Hope Haven Foundation, Los Angeles
February 2020-December 2022
- Supervised a group of fifteen volunteers in planning a fundraising event that brought in $30,000 for neighbourhood initiatives.
- Logistics coordination, including vendor management, venue booking, and promotion, attracting over 300 people.
- Created marketing collateral and used social media to advertise the event, raising awareness by 40%.
Dedicated Section
List volunteer experience in a different area of your resume like “Volunteer Experience,” “Community Service,” or “Additional Activities” if it isn’t particularly related to the position you’re applying for but is relevant and shows accomplishments.
Include an expression or sentence that briefly sums up your volunteer experiences under each entry. You don’t have to allocate too much of your resume to experience that isn’t specifically related to the job, so keep these statements short. Use the past tense for prior volunteer experiences and the present resume tense to describe current ones. Examples of volunteering along with its resultant achievements include:
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Volunteer Program Volunteer
Food Bank Harvest, Chicago, IL
January 2022–Today
- Coordinated weekly food distribution programs that provided meals to over 500 families in need each month.
- Increased operational efficiency by 19% by recruiting, training, and supervising a group of thirty volunteers.
- Created partnerships with nearby establishments to obtain food donations, resulting in a 35% increase in contributions.
Community Outreach Volunteer
Humanity Habitat, Chicago, IL
June 2020-December 2021
- Contributed more than 100 volunteer hours to help build and renovate homes for low-income families.
- Organized and coordinated fundraising events to generate $10,000 for housing projects in the area.
- Worked with locals to advertise volunteer opportunities and boost involvement by 15%.
Skills or Summary Section
Mention unique skills and personal abilities or values that your volunteer experience has brought to light in the summary or skill section. A few examples to show the utilization of volunteering in skill or summary section include:
Summary Section Example:
- “Marketing graduates with practical experience in non-profit sponsorship and digital campaigns from volunteer work with local charities.”
Skill Section Example:
- Donor participation and fundraising (via Food Bank volunteer events)
- Organising events, such as blood drives for the Red Cross.
When to Apply It:
- You want to highlight your volunteer work but are limited in space.
- The position is concise but significant.
- It strengthens a fundamental competency or personal brand.
Important Pointers to List Volunteer Experience
Understanding how to promote your volunteer experience is as crucial as knowing where to put it and learning the best way is more important. Some of the key pointers or tips to make sure they are the most impactful include:
Professional Format Usage: Include the name of the organization, location, dates, and bullet points detailing your accomplishments when listing your volunteer work, just like you would with a job.
Structure:
- Position Title
- Name of the Organization
- Location
- Dates of Participation
- Bullet Points (outlining responsibilities, accomplishments, and abilities)
Calculate Your Successes: Use figures, percentages, and tangible results to show influence. Write “Oversaw a charity event that brought in $15,000 for nearby animal shelters” instead of “Helped in planning a fundraiser.”
Customize it to the Job Description: Use the wordings and language from the job posting to match the requirements of the employer with your volunteer experience.
- Example: Highlight the direct match between your volunteer work managing a group and the job’s requirement for “team leadership.”
Action Verbs Utilization: Use powerful verbs like “organized,” “led,” “developed,” “coordinated,” or “initiated” at the beginning of bullet points to demonstrate expertise and involvement.
Keep It Current and Relevant: Prioritize volunteer experience that advances your present professional objectives and took place within the last five to ten years. Ignore entries that are out of date or irrelevant unless they exhibit a unique or highly sought-after skill.
How to Include Volunteer Experience on Resume
The same amount of information and relevancy that you would provide for professional experience should be included in the volunteer experience section of your resume. The details everyone must include in their resume are:
- Position title: Give your volunteer position’s complete title and use a formal position title even if it is unpaid
- Name of organization: Indicate the organization’s name you volunteered for.
- Location: Indicate the city, state, or nation where the organization is headquartered, if relevant.
- Dates of involvement: Specify the month and year that you volunteered (for example, June 2019–December 2023). Use “Present” as the end date if it’s on-going.
- Tasks and successes: List your tasks and accomplishments in bullet points just like with paid work experience.
- Key skills acquired or displayed: Customize your job description to highlight both hard and soft skills that are related to the position you’re seeking for.
Examples to List Volunteer Experience on Resume
Are you still unsure about how to include volunteer work on a resume? Here are some examples that will help you understand the format and structure of including volunteering in your resume:
Example 1: Suppose you have no prior university work experience and are looking for a position at the alumni office. But, you have years of experience drafting grant applications and donation request letters in your voluntary work as an unpaid experience. You could include this volunteer experience on your resume in the following manner:
Experience with Fundraising
Supportive Organization
October 2015-December 2023
- Experience working as an organization’s volunteer fundraising officer. Was in charge of establishing connections with previous contributors and submitting funding applications to the government.
- Composed nine grant proposals that were approved, totaling $304,000.
- Ensured that contributors were contacted four times a year by maintaining the donor database. They were inspired to make another donation as a result of feeling more involved with the group and its operations.
Example 2: You could use the following format to include volunteer work on your resume if it is recent but unrelated to the position you are going for:
Volunteer Experience
Dog Welfare Charity
February 2022- February 2023
- Trained new volunteers and learners
- Assisting with food preparation and animal feeding
- Cleaning and sanitizing animal cages
Example 3: You might get ideas on how to include volunteer experience on your resume by looking at this sample about environmental volunteering if you don’t have any paid employment experience to include.
Volunteer Experience
Student Union of University
March 2021- April 2024
- Oversaw the clean-up of the university’s beaches, including post-event volunteer interaction and mobilization. 127 bags of trash were cleared from three nearby beaches as a result of the event over the course of one weekend.
- Took part in a tree-planting event and planted twenty trees throughout the institution with the team of five-person crew which resulted in the campus greener, with more animals and shade.
Example of Resume with Volunteer Experience
Shelly Jonathan
@shelly.jonathan456@email.com | +34-600-123-456 | linkedin.com/in/shellyjonathan | Chicago, IL
Professional Summary
Creative and analytical marketing specialist with over three years of expertise in content planning, digital marketing, and social media management. A verified track record of using data-driven marketing to increase brand awareness and engagement. Enthusiastic about sustainable company practices and their influence on the community.
Work Experience
Digital Marketing Manager
Digitek Agency, Chicago, IL
July 2022- Present
- Created and oversaw content strategies with an SEO focus for more than a dozen client websites.
- Organic website traffic increased by 40% year over year using Google Analytics and SEMrush.
- Worked together with development and design teams to improve UX and landing pages.
- Oversaw a rebranding initiative that resulted in a 50% increase in client engagement.
Marketing Intern
Tours & Travel Group, Indiana
June 2020-March 2022
- Planned and tracked social media posts on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Contributed to the planning of webinars and online travel fairs, increasing participation by 35%.
- Performed market research and created performance reports every month.
Educational Qualification
BBA (Bachelors of Business Administration)
Graduated from the University of Chicago in 2020Skills
Canva & Adobe Suite | Social Media Marketing | SEO & SEM | Google Analytics | Email Campaigns | Bilingual (Spanish & English)
Volunteer Experience
Digital Marketing Volunteer
Refugee Aid Organization, Remote
May 2021-Present
- Developed content for social media awareness campaigns, expanding reach by 43%.
- Created flyers and infographics that were utilised in more than seven sponsorship events.
- Coordinated with the social media team to support donor engagement tactics and planning.
Conclusion
Finally we’re finished! However, volunteering can be a remarkable asset to your application if you are applying to an NGO and have a gap on your resume or a recent graduate. Listing it as work-related experience can be in your favor if your volunteer experience is relevant to the position you’re looking for but if not, you should list it in a separate section.
Your responsibilities are what place you on the same level as other applicants but your accomplishments are what make you unique and ahead of others! Therefore, highlight accomplishments over responsibilities when describing your volunteer experience as it will show what changes you have made to the related organization.
You must be experienced by now in the process to list volunteer experience in your resume!
