How can you include volunteer experience on your resume without it looking like filler?
Learn from the community’s knowledge. Experts are adding insights into this AI-powered collaborative article, and you could too.
This is a new type of article that we started with the help of AI, and experts are taking it forward by sharing their thoughts directly into each section.
If you’d like to contribute, request an invite by liking or reacting to this article. Learn more
— The LinkedIn Team
Volunteering can be a great way to develop new skills, network with professionals, and contribute to a cause you care about. But how can you showcase your volunteer experience on your resume without it looking like filler? Here are some tips to help you make the most of your unpaid work and impress potential employers.
The first step is to choose volunteer opportunities that are relevant to your desired field or industry. For example, if you want to work in marketing, you could volunteer for a non-profit organization that needs help with social media, website design, or fundraising campaigns. This way, you can demonstrate your skills and knowledge in a practical setting, and also show your passion and commitment to a cause.
-
LAURA PARRINO
👍CAREER MARKETING CAMPAIGN COACH | ADVISE and GUIDE JOBSEEKERS ON HOW TO USE RESUMES, LINKEDIN, PERSONAL WEBSITES AND CHATGPT TO WIN A JOB
Since when did the resume police decide that volunteer work has to be "relevant" or "aligned?" So are you going to reject a marketing candidate because their volunteer experience included rebuilding a community devastated by a disaster? This demonstrates grit, endurance, hard work and commitment to a greater cause. It demonstrates character. I'll hire that over a 10 hour social media volunteer gig any day. Enough with alignment. That's human judgement stuff. And why they can't find great talent just waiting outside their locked drawbridges. We've got to stop the judgement and look at people as whole human beings. Oh BTW - Side hustle work - running your own website design business - gets you extra credit.
22
-
Holly Hagan
Training Medical Copywriters for Pharma Ad Agencies | Too Busy with Client Work to Train Your Junior Medical Writers? I got you. | 10+ Years, 15+ Agencies, 60+ Pharma Brands
Write about your volunteer experience the same way you would write about your employment experience, using CARB statements: Challenge, Action, Results, Benefits. The most important thing is that your write-up helps the prospective employer to envision the benefits you would bring to their company.
12
The next step is to highlight your accomplishments and results from your volunteer work. Use numbers, percentages, or other metrics to show how you contributed to the organization's goals, solved problems, or improved outcomes. For example, you could mention how many followers you gained, how much money you raised, or how much time you saved. This will help you stand out from other candidates and show your value to employers.
-
Rosalinde Rosado
Certified Master & Career Coach 🌟 Discover and Sustain Positive Change🌟 Positive Intelligence | Leadership Coaching | NCOPE | Founder of URLaunchPad | Speaker 🎙️ Voiceover and Audiobook Narrator
Adding volunteer work on a resume is not a filler. It demonstrates your enthusiasm to learn and contribute to your community. Your quantitative/ qualitative achievements are the results of that enthusiasm.
4
-
Ramalinga Reddy Gundlapally
Early Stage Investor in People & their Business Models. Helping GIG Workers @India for World of PEO/EOR/AOR/IC,
Voluntary experience is not just a filler. As you have an objective to achieve and also deliver something meaningful and good. So highlight the best things that you have done and how they impacted for the societal good.
3
The third step is to use strong action verbs and keywords that match the job description and the industry standards. Action verbs show what you did and how you did it, while keywords show your familiarity with the field and the employer's expectations. For example, you could use verbs like coordinated, facilitated, or implemented, and keywords like SEO, CRM, or analytics. This will help you pass the applicant tracking systems (ATS) and catch the attention of hiring managers.
-
Bertha Diaz
Corporate Recruiter | Talent Finder | Passionate professional who enjoys helping people find their next job.
Volunteer experience should be submitted on a resume in the same format as a paying job. Provide information on your responsibilities, duties, accomplishments and how you enhanced the program. This is another opportunity to showcase your organizational and leadership skills. I have never thought that volunteerism would be "filler" only.
3
-
Megan Pritchett, M.S.
Career and job search coach for women in social impact 🤓 Confidently create a career that loves you back! 🌻 Integrating effective strategy with intuition, tarot, and energy 🔮✨
In addition to using action verbs and keywords, I also recommend including numbers to tell the story of what you did as a volunteer. For example: 2x per week, 12 hour shifts, helped 100 people, fundraised $10,000, etc. Even if you don't have numbers around the result of what you did, you can share details around the process and HOW you did the work which is valuable on a resume.
2
The fourth step in preparing for a job application is to organize your volunteer experience in a way that showcases your skills and qualifications. Depending on your level of experience and the type of job you are applying for, you may choose to create a separate section for your volunteer experience if you have a lot of relevant and recent volunteer work that complements your paid work history. Alternatively, you could include your volunteer experience under your work history section if you have employment gaps or are changing careers. Lastly, you might incorporate your volunteer experience into your skills or achievements section if you have limited or unrelated volunteer work that supports your transferable skills.
-
Yanira Guzmán
Executive Career Coach | Closing the Latina pay gap one mujer at a time. | Leadership Consultant | Latina Leader
Why do we need to distinguish volunteer work from work experience? To me, I put it under the heading "Professional Experience," as long as the volunteer work is relevant for the job that you're targeting, it counts as experience, especially since we're in a skills-based hiring environment.
10
-
Amber Hicks
Volunteer work is not "filler". Most non-profits/charities could not survive without volunteers, they are the backbone of operations. I would advise clients to showcase this experience just as they would any other that's paid.
4
The final step is to tailor your resume for each job application. This means that you should review the job description and the employer's mission and values, and adjust your volunteer experience accordingly. Emphasize the skills and achievements that are most relevant and important for the role, and use the same language and tone as the employer. This will help you show your fit and interest for the position, and increase your chances of getting an interview.
-
Austin C.
Recruiter | Talent Acquisition | Sourcing | Resume Writing | HIRING Security Cleared Engineers at LOCKHEED MARTIN SPACE. 🚀🛰️🚀
Adding volunteer work could help to bridge the gaps in your work experience. Sometimes people with more technical backgrounds might not have much customer facing experience, volunteer projects could help to support this. The same goes for people with less technical backgrounds trying to get into roles that require more experience with certain software tools/ platforms. Volunteer experience could help to detail your skill sets that you didn’t get a chance to describe due to your background.
4
-
Sara Causey, CTM, CHRM, CPM
Staffing & Recruiting SME | Researcher & Sourcer
Showing volunteer work is great when it makes sense to the job. I know, I know, throw rotten tomatoes at me if you'd like. But you have to remember that looking for a job in Corpo America is not a college application. They aren't looking for who spent the most time as a museum docent (unless that's what you are applying to do). They want to see how you are qualified for the job they've posted. Period. Include your volunteer work on the resume if it is relevant to do so.
2
-
Jheneal M. McDuffie, MSc, MDRW, CPRW
👉🏽 Book your complimentary resume review today! (Link in Bio) 🚀Convert your views into INTERVIEWS and attract more recruiters in a crowded job search marketplace.
Treat your volunteer experience as professional experience. Even though you were not paid for your volunteer work, it still counts as valuable experience. Include it in the same section of your resume as your paid work experience and treat it with the same level of detail and professionalism.
3
-
Ansh K.
Loyalty Program @ BPCL | IIM Indore | NIT Jaipur | ATS Resume
Here's my take on including volunteer experience on your resume without it looking like filler: A) Leverage your volunteering experience to demonstrate your leadership skills (bias for action, impact focused) B) In your resume, add a section called "Social impact" and in that section add all your volunteering & social work you did by quantifying how many people you helped/ amount raised to demonstrate impact
2