HOW TO PROPERLY LIST YOUR VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE ON A RESUMÉ/CV.
Volunteer work is a valuable way to show that you have relevant on-the-job experience since it bears good semblance to the work environment of a full-time job.
Even though volunteer work is unpaid, it is just as valuable as paid jobs when it comes to skill acquisition and experience.
We have included a free template to guide you in creating your volunteer experience section on your CV. Download and share with your friends.
Listing your Volunteer Experience on Your Resume the Right Way.
Listing the relevant experience you have on your resume is key to conveying your suitability for a role. However, before you go ahead to list these volunteer experiences, here are a few questions to ask yourself that will help you determine how to get it correctly.
1. Where should I list them?
You should create a separate section on your resume for volunteer work. This can be a good strategy if you have extensive volunteering experience with different organizations and you want to showcase that.
If you do this, you should structure your volunteer work in the same way you would any paid experience, with clear bullet points focusing on achievements rather than responsibilities.
“Raised 500,0000 naira for Chibok primary school” is specific and measurable; “responsible for fundraising activities” is vague.
“You should definitely add your volunteer experience to your resume, especially if you don’t have paid work experience in the area you are applying to (for example, if you have just graduated), because in considering entry level candidates, recruiters look for potential, and volunteer work can be an important barometer for professional potential.”
2. How much detail should I go into about each one?
While listing your volunteer work on your resume, be sure not to bombard the recruiter with unnecessary information.
Go straight to the point and list only details relevant to the job you’re applying for, highlighting industry keywords.
In listing volunteer experience you should include these information:
⁃The company name of places you’ve volunteered.
⁃Start and End date of each volunteer work.
⁃Your role during each volunteer work.
⁃Your achievements during your time of volunteering.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE CV TEMPLATE HERE
3. How should I list my volunteer experience? (especially if you got hired at your place of volunteer work)
Create two separate entries, a good choice if you don’t have many jobs to list or if the two experiences weren’t consecutive.
⁃List it as you would two roles at one company with two sub-entries under the company name.
⁃List the full-time role and mention in a bullet, “Promoted from graphics designer volunteer to full-time role,” or, “Initially brought on as a volunteer to support content development team, promoted to media assistant ”
These, among others, are some of the measures that, if adhered to, will give your resume just enough appeal to get the recruiters' attention, and give you bright hopes in landing the role.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE CV TEMPLATE HERE
Jenny,
For the content team at UPFOLIO.
