How to Highlight Volunteer Experience on Your Résumé

As we hear of volunteer fairs and anticipate college graduation it is important to look at including your volunteer experience in your résumé.

It’s important to use your volunteer efforts and experience to your best advantage. Volunteer experience can be a benefit to job seekers. This is especially true for students, recent graduates and other job seekers who lack professional experience in the desired field. Although volunteer service isn't considered equivalent to employment, it does help build your résumé. AmeriCorps says that volunteer service shows your ability to handle tough tasks and commitment to seeing things through. Thoughtful and creative presentation of volunteer experience on your résumé can bolster your qualifications, catching the eye of potential employers.

Instructions

1. Gather details about your volunteer work, including the skills, values and experience you gained, as well as the association / organization name, location, contact information and project type.

2. Detail your volunteer work. Think about what you actually accomplished as a volunteer. List the specific activities and tasks you were responsible for and write a concise description for each activity. Use action verbs to begin each description.

3. Name the volunteer position you held if one wasn't provided for you by the organization. Simply listing "volunteer" isn't specific enough to stand out on a résumé. Use the title to describe your role. For example, if you helped plant and weed flowerbeds, "volunteer gardening assistant" is a descriptive title that stands out more than the generic "volunteer" title. Specify that you volunteered your time in the position description.

4. Show how your volunteer experience correlates with the desired position. This determines where on your résumé you'll need to include your volunteer work. Divide volunteer experience into two basic categories: volunteer work in a similar profession or position that mirrors the job you're seeking and volunteer work in a different field or position.

5. Organize volunteer information in order of relevancy along with other work experience items in your résumé. List more relevant items first. You may choose not to include all volunteer experience. Unless you want to demonstrate long-term commitment to an organization, don't include volunteer work that doesn't relate to the position you're seeking.

6. Format the sections of your résumé to include volunteer experience.

a. Highlight the strong relationship between your volunteer work and the targeted profession or position.

b. List volunteer work in a related profession or position with previous work experience. Name this section "Relevant Experience" instead of "Relevant Work Experience" to accurately represent the information included in the section. Even if the volunteer position isn't relevant to the position, promote that you've developed valuable skills and exposure as a volunteer.

c. If the volunteer work was in a different profession, but you developed skills relevant to the position, include a section titled "Community Involvement" or "Extracurricular Activities" if you are a student.

As you are planning your next move, remember that volunteer opportunities abound. If you find that you are lacking experience, contact the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley. The VCCV works with over 160 nonprofit agencies. For more information on volunteer opportunities, contact the VCCV at information@vccv.org or (319) 272-2087.  

Thanks to Eileen Pfefferle for this material.