How To List Volunteer Work On Resume

Revise Your Resume For Each Job Application

You may need to tailor your resume to each employers required skills, traits and qualifications. Create a personalized version of your resume that works best for each job and matches each job posting by studying the job description. You should also research the company by visiting their Company Page, website and any recent press releases.

Volunteer Resume Samples With Related Experience

If you applying for a nursing position and you have minimal paid experience, heres how you can put your volunteer experience on resume:

Nursing Experience

Better Health Center, Baltimore, MD

• Held a volunteer nursing role at Better Health Center. Provided nursing care, health evaluations, health guidance, health education, and referral services to patients and institutions.
• Administered prescribed drugs and emergency services to patients.
• Assessed and monitored the physical and mental states of patients.
• Tracked the progress of care plans.
• Conducted home visits and rendered preventive solutions.

Penning your volunteer section like so shows that you really have relevant nursing experience. As such, you can be sure that you will impress the hiring executive.

No matter what, never write this section as below. It is wrong.

Additional Activities

• Volunteered at Better Health Center, Baltimore, MD.
• Penned nursing blog articles regularly.
• Member of a mountain climbing charity group.

So, what is the problem here? You are diluting your relevant experience by putting it together with entirely unrelated activities. As you might already have picked up, the trick here is to mention the specific experience that relates to what you want to apply for.

Thirdly Select Related Volunteer Work

Select the volunteer work that is related to your application. Similar volunteer work can improve your resumes impression on the recruiter. It also shows your experience in activities that are related to the job. An essential addition to your resume can be any volunteer work you have done in the institution itself. If you have a previous volunteer work experience at the same organization youre applying to, you may include the experience to create a positive impression on the recruiter.

For example, if you are applying for a hospital-based job, it is recommended that you include any hospital-related volunteer work. Or, if you are applying for an event management job, you can mention a the details of organizing a fundraiser to add to your skills and qualifications.

Read Also: Resume App Ipad

When To Include Volunteer Work On Resume

It is very confusing to decide when to put volunteer experience on resume. There are various possibilities. Let us take a look at all of them.

It is very importanttoaddvolunteer experiences on resume in the following scenarios:

• Recent college/high school graduate: If you are a recent college graduate with a limited professional experience. As a fresher, you probably do not have a lot of work experience. So, volunteering work must be central to your resume.
• Break in your professional career: If you have taken a significant amount of time away from professional environment. This might be because of any reason , but including your volunteer experience on resume is a great option. It shows that you have spent the time activelyengaging with the community and developing new skills.

Image by Visual.ly

Add featured snippets before TOC

What Is The Volunteer Work Section On A Resume

A volunteer work section is similar to any other section that’s listed on the resume.

What you’ll see are these sections:

• Contact information.
• Skills.
• Certifications.

Volunteer work can be included as one of these sections. Or, another way to format the work is to include it as part of your work experience.

Before deciding which is best, understand that volunteer work can be a section that you can list on your resume. It’s entirely optional.

A standard resume format is chronological. Or hybrid format. In this format, you’ll see multiple sections on your resume.

Recommended Reading: Do You Include References On Resume

Related Volunteer Work On Your Resume

Which types of volunteer work are appropriate for your resume? Find out what related volunteer work you can put on a resume.

Apart from the obvious volunteer work such as a position in a nonprofit organization like a homeless shelter or orphanage, there are many ways a person can volunteer and perhaps not consider it in the same light but adding it on your resume could be a great help to your application.

Take a glance at the following list of possible related volunteer work you could include on your resume either for the experience, knowledge or skills it has given you.

• Sports Coach
• Member of a not-for-profit organization
• Helping at events
• Offering services for free to neighbors, friends etc.
• School associations
• Neighborhood Watch
• Counseling etc.

Voluntary experiences are nearly always career-enhancing even when it may not be in the exact line of work youre looking for, so dont be afraid to improve your chances at landing that dream job by including your volunteer work on your resume, along with your work experience, contact information, skills, education and resume objective or qualification summary, where you can even make reference to the abilities or certificates gained by your participation.

If you need extra resume help, you could try out an online resume creator or take a look at the other guides available at ResumeCoach for other resume advice from career experts.

Add Secular Value To Your Church

There are many spiritual or religious responsibilities that may transfer successfully to secular positions. If you’re applying for a secular position, consider tailoring your church-related skills to meet the needs of the position for which you’re applying. This may help hiring managers better understand the secular value of your church-related skills and understand how you would use your spiritual or religious knowledge and experience to succeed in a secular role.

Related:How To Volunteer: 13 Steps To Start Volunteering in Your Community

Don’t Miss: Bilingual Resume

Benefits Of Adding Volunteer Work To Resume

Some applicants might wonder whether to list their volunteer experience on a resume. While it is not necessary to list them, volunteer work on a resume will certainly not be harmful. Moreover, if your professional experience is already abundant, taking a little space to add volunteer work on the resume/CV will show that you are willing to perform out of your job duty.

Several reasons for a candidate to list their volunteer works on their resume:

For different candidates, adding volunteer work experience to a resume may serve different purposes.

Its notably precious for people who have long unemployment periods, fresh graduates and students who have limited professional experience, and those who are considering a career change.

In Your Work Experience Section

Here’s an example of what that might look like when you’re done:

You May Like: How To Upload A Resume On Indeed

Before Writing Define The Most Important Keywords From The Job

They especially relate to the experience and qualifications required. It initially gives you an idea of how to incorporate the candidates expertise correctly and whether it should be done at all. Remember that the correct wording and the inclusion of key phrases in your resume can be decisive factors while going through the applicant tracking system.

Related: How to Check if My Resume is ATS-Friendly

Tailor Your Volunteer Work Contents Of Your Resume For Each Different Job Application

You are probably applying for several companies simultaneously. However, there isnt a one-size-fits-all resume. There is always a little difference between each job position, even if they share the same title.

As a result, be sure to tailor the content in every researched one of the resumes youre sending out. Amend and edit the volunteer experience on your resume to better target the qualifications for a job description. It may be more time-consuming since you have to customize how you describe your volunteer work.

Don’t Miss: How To List Your References On A Resume

Example Of A Volunteer Experience Section

Volunteer Experience

Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, Birmingham, AL, Fall 2018 to Present

• Coordinated and led work parties that constructed 15 homes for low income families in need of housing.
• Conceptualized and successfully launched an initiative that collected contributions of gently used furniture and other household items to sell in the Habitat for Humanity store.
• Directed preparation of Labor Day parade float to increase community awareness of organizations presence and contributions.

Here’s an example of a resume that includes both work and volunteer experience:

William Applicant

Examples Of Volunteer Work On Your Resume That Counts

Volunteer work can be considered a resume experience, as long as it shows your skills, accomplishments, and winning attributes in line with the job youre seeking.

Volunteering for a worthy cause will enhance your resume. This means any activity that is free of charge or pro-bono work counts as experience.

What Counts as Volunteer Work: Examples

Also Check: Excel Resume Skills

Where Should You Place Volunteer Experience On Your Resume

There are a few different places where you can include volunteer experience on your resume the placement will really depend on what the rest of your professional experience looks like and your current job goals.

Nine times out of 10, the best place to include your volunteer experience on your resume is within the Professional Experience section. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to fill an employment gap on your resume or you’re currently employed and trying to draw attention away from this fact.

How To Put Volunteer Work On Resume To Wow The Recruiter

The point of tweaking your resume in different ways is to please the hiring executive. When it comes to volunteering activities, writing more detailed bullet points can go a long way in impressing a recruiter. Take a look at these two volunteer resume samples.

The wrong way:

• A frequent volunteer at Red Cross.

The proper way:

• Volunteer administrative assistant at St. James Parish. Supervised four $30,000 building projects, always achieving an 8% budget saving.
• As a volunteer at Rescue Earth, was in charge of 15 workers to enforce a zero-plastic initiative.
• Launched three IT solutions as a volunteer at Red Cross.

In addition to learning how to write the volunteer section correctly, you have to learn about the things you should never put on your resume. Failure to do this can water down your overall efforts of coming up with that perfect application.

Don’t Miss: How To Insert A Bold Line In Word For Resume

Tip #: List Achievements Over Responsibilities

When possible, you want to focus more on achievements as opposed to responsibilities in your resume .

Heres what we mean by that:

Lets assume that you have volunteer experience as a research assistant. The responsibilities are pretty obvious – i.e. compiling and distributing questionnaires, collecting and analyzing relevant data, doing statistical and analytical work, etc.

The HR knows all this – theyre reviewed hundreds of similar resumes, all of which mention the same responsibilities.

If you, however, focus on showing how you concretely contributed to the research, by say, pointing out that 50% of the data analyzed by you was used to advance it, youd have told the recruiter something completely new and compelling that makes you stand out.

Focusing on your achievements, when relevant, is your best chance at giving your resume the upper hand.

To give you a more concrete example, though, heres a comparison of achievements done right:

Correct Example:

• Compiled and distributed qualitative questionnaires with a 90% response rate.
• Completed 50% of the data analysis later used to advance the projects research.

However, in some industries, you might have fewer achievements to list than in others. If you volunteered at your local homeless shelter, your day-to-day goal probably wasnt to distinguish yourself but help others. If thats the case, listing responsibilities is OK.

Heres how that would look like in your resume:

Correct Example:

Optional Sections And Resume Formats

You can also include optional sections like volunteer work, awards and achievements, and interests and hobbies. There are a few different resume formats you have to choose from depending on your background:

• If you have extensive professional experience, this section should always come first in a

• If you have a few years of professional experience and relevant skills, the combination resume format might be right for you.

Related:

Also Check: Smallest Font For Resume

Connect Volunteer Work With Soft Skills

When your volunteer work isn’t related to the job. Or isn’t specifically requested to have listed in the job application, it can still be useful to reference.

Primarily, listing volunteer work as part of your professional story, alluding to relevant skills that’s required of the position.

Here’s how you should do that:

Volunteer Experience

• Donate time once a month to the brothers and sisters of America program.
• Offer mentoring and guidance to young adults.

Other types of volunteer experiences could include church volunteer work and planning/executing successful fundraising events.

Both of these show leadership capacity. And passion or drive.

Some volunteering work can show great problem-solving skills, planning, coordination, verbal communication, written communication, and more.

For example, basketball coaches who voluntarily work with the youth can show great leadership, training skills, and work ethic.

If You Want To Highlight Your Volunteer Experience

If you have extensive volunteering experience with different organizations and you want to showcase that, you might want to create a separate section on your resume for volunteer work.

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 $5,000 for wildlife rehabilitation is specific and measurable responsible for fundraising activities is too vague.

Recommended Reading: Bld Zety Resume

Create A Separate Section On The Resume

If the job application doesn’t specify wanting to see volunteer experience, then it means that you can create a separate section on your resume to include your resume volunteer work.

This could include community service, church work, fundraising, and other related experience.

To put volunteer resume experience on your resume in a way that can impress the hiring manager, make it a new section.

Here is what it will look like:

Volunteer Experience

• Plan and execute a monthly fundraiser for children with disabilities.
• Work closely with animal shelters once a month.

In this example, the volunteering work is unrelated to the job. Meaning, it is not directly relevant toe the application documents that the employer has asked for.

This does not mean it is not valuable to list.

Include Volunteer Work On Your Resume If It Says Something Positive And Relevant About You As A Potential Employee

If your volunteer work is directly related to the job you are applying to, it should be included on your resume.

For example, if you have volunteered at a public library, and you are applying for a job as a librarian, your volunteer work should go on your resume. It will help to show that you have experience working in a library setting and have a genuine interest in public libraries.

That information will help demonstrate you are a strong candidate for the job and should be invited to an interview.

If your volunteer experience is not directly related to the job, but it demonstrates something positive about you as a potential employee, it can be included on your resume.

For example, imagine you are applying for a job as an administrative assistant at a charitable organization that coordinates fundraising events for worthy causes. You have plenty of experience working as administrative assistant, but your work experience is in a different industry. However, you also volunteer with a local service group, and you are on the group’s fundraising committee.

In that case, your volunteer experience would definitely belong on your resume.

Perhaps an administrative assistant in that organization wouldn’t be directly responsible for organizing fundraising events. However, your volunteer experience shows you do have experience and knowledge related to the type of work the employer does, even if you haven’t had paid employment in that sector.

You May Like: Cv Relevant Coursework

How To Write Your Resume

The following are the essential steps of writing a resume:

Related:A Guide To Writing a Resume Summary With Samples