Question: Is your resume only for paid work? Or can you include volunteer work on it?
As one of the leading employment firms in Miami, Future Force can tell you that experience is experience and if you have volunteer work in your background that lends itself to selling yourself as a job candidate, then you should absolutely include it.
In fact, according to a LinkedIn survey, 41% of hiring managers consider volunteer experience equally valuable as paid work. However, what’s interesting is that slightly less than half of the 89% of candidates who had volunteer experience actually included it on their resumes.
Clearly, many candidates discount the work they do as volunteers – and only to their own detriment on their resume. But including volunteer experience offers plenty of benefits to you as a job candidate:
- It makes you stand out. Not every candidate is going to have this kind of work history and it positions you as someone with strong character who wants to give back.
- If you’ve been unemployed, it helps you keep your skills sharp and demonstrate to potential employers the productive work you’ve been doing while searching for a new job.
So if you have relevant volunteer experience, how do you include it on your resume?
If the volunteer experience isn’t related to your field, you can create a separate section on your resume for “Volunteer Experience” or “Community Service Experience.” Be sure to list it after your “Work History.”
If it directly relates to the position you’re applying for, though, include it under your “Work History” instead. Just like with your paid jobs, you’re going to want to list your title (if you have one), explain your duties and quantify your accomplishments.
All that said, don’t include every volunteer experience you’ve ever undertaken, like the time you baked cookies for your child’s school party. Otherwise, your skills and background will get muddled by a bunch of good, but irrelevant, deeds.
Also, if your experience includes work for organizations involved in controversial issues, then you may want to think about whether to include it. While it’s certainly not legal, some hiring managers may view you in a different light if you’re involved in advocating for issues they don’t agree with.
You may think, “Why would I want to work for an employer like that?” But it’s one person’s opinion. It’s up to you whether or not to take the risk.
Need more help creating a resume that gets results? Call Future Force. As one of the leading employment firms in Miami, Future Force can help you with the entire job search process, from resume to interviews to job offer. Contact Future Force today to learn more or search our Miami jobs now.