how to write volunteer work on a resume

How to List Volunteer Experience On a Resume [W/ Examples]

Let’s face it - first impressions matter. And when it comes to job search, your resume will be the first impression a potential employer will have of you. 

This begs the question: how do you make your resume stand out in a pile of job applications? 

You try to make every section count. And a particularly beneficial one to have in this regard is volunteer experience.

A volunteer experience section can be a great way to showcase your skills if you’re just starting on your career, or even if you have a work experience gap on your CV. It is also an indicator that you are not just any other money-driven applicant, but also someone who cares about giving back to the community. 

But what is the best way - and time - to include volunteer experience in your resume? That’s exactly what this article will show you.

Read on to find out: 

What is a Resume Volunteer Experience Section?

• When to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume?
• How to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume?
• How to Get Your Volunteer Experience Section Right?

The volunteer experience section of a resume includes any unpaid work you’ve done that could be relevant to your application. In addition to being an effective way to showcase your professional skills, it also shows that you are a purpose-driven person. The studies speak for themselves - volunteering can open a new path to employment. 

You can list volunteer experience either under the work experience section or as a separate section entirely. Below, we’re going to explain how, exactly, you can do both.

But first, here’s an example of how volunteer experience (as a separate resume section) looks like: 

When to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume? 

While having a volunteer experience section in your resume can be an asset, it’s not always going to be useful. There’s value in knowing when volunteering can be relevant in improving your chances to get hired and when it can be dead-weight.  

Here’s our cheat sheet on when to and when not to include volunteer experience in your resume. 

• The company you are applying for emphasizes ‘giving’ as part of its identity. Employees at VMware, for example, are given volunteer hours which they can use instead of doing standard work.  
• You have recently graduated and have no work experience . 
• You have extra space on your resume or an employment gap. 
• You are applying for an NGO, non-profit, or charity organization . 
• The volunteer work is outdated. Volunteer work is awesome, yes, but you want it to be as time-relevant for the recruiter reviewing your application as possible. And experience from a decade ago rarely cuts it.
• You can fill up your resume with more relevant sections, such as paid work and education . As a rule of thumb, the first thing a recruiter notices in a resume is paid experience and education - volunteering experience is just a nice-to-have extra. This means you shouldn’t squeeze in volunteer experience if it means cutting out more important sections from your resume. 

How to Include Volunteer Experience In Your Resume

Now that we went over the whens, let’s go over the most important part - how to include volunteer experience in your resume in a way that highlights your skills and emphasizes your achievements. 

As we mentioned before, volunteer experience can be a section of its own or can count as work experience in some specific cases. 

DO include it as part of the work experience section if: 

• The experience is super relevant to the job you are applying for.
• You have otherwise little paid experience. 

For example, let’s say you’re applying for a job in Journalism, but you’ve never worked as a professional in the field. However, you have plenty of journalism experience from years of volunteering at your university’s newspaper. 

Journalism Experience 

Reading Owl Daily

2017 - 2019

• Volunteering experience as Reporter for the University’s daily newspaper. Covered the News section, as well as handled copy editing. 
• Kept track of the newspaper’s online presence and updated its WordPress site daily. 
• Wrote a total of 50 interviews for two years. 

Now, when your volunteering experience isn’t specifically related to the job you’re applying for, you’re better off creating a separate volunteer experience section and formatting it just like the work experience section:

• Volunteering Position
• Organization You Volunteered For
• Responsibilities & Achievements

If you want your unrelated volunteering experience to stand out, however, simply listing your responsibilities and achievements won’t do. Instead, you want to show how the volunteer experience ties you to the job you are currently applying for.   

Confused? Let us cover an example: 

Say that you have been helping at the local animal rescue center for a year, but now you’re applying for a marketing company. Your volunteer experience is not marketing-relevant, but it can be tailored as such.

Volunteer Experience 

• Helped develop an online platform for stray animals’ adoption that saved 100+ dogs and cats, on behalf of the Animal Rescue Center.
• Wrote copy for the online platform and created banners and brochures to advertise it.  

Keep in mind, though, that tailoring is not something that you have to do all the time - volunteering experience is going to help whether or not it’s related to your field.

If you can tailor it to the job, though, that is, for sure, a big plus.

Volunteer Experience Section Example

Looking for some inspiration? Look no further!

Here’s what a well-crafted volunteer experience section looks like on a resume: 

International Federation Red Cross, France

5/2016 - 5/2017

• Provided presentations about Red Cross programs in the community. 
• Assisted the fundraising team with writing grant proposals. 

Now, if you’re listing your volunteering experience as part of the work experience section, here’s how it could look like if you were applying for a job in the communications field:

Team London Volunteer 

Mayor of London Office

09/2018 - 08/2019

• Supported the implementation of a new external communications strategy.
• Created a new e-newsletter to share with a variety of stakeholders to keep them up to date with internal news and to gain new supporters.  
• Generated visual content for the organization’s social media platform. 

How to Get Your Volunteer Experience Section Right 

There’s more to creating a compelling volunteer experience section than just writing it out. Here are our top 3 tips on including volunteering in your resume the right way:

Tip #1: Follow the Format. 

As we mentioned before, there is a pretty straightforward format one can follow to list volunteering experiences.

Here’s what it looks like:

• Your position and/or title 
• Company/Organization name
• Achievements/Responsibilities 
• Volunteering timeframe 

Tip #2: List Achievements Over Responsibilities. 

When possible, you want to focus more on achievements as opposed to responsibilities in your resume (and this applies to volunteer experience, too).

Here’s what we mean by that:

Let’s 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 - they’re 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, you’d 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, here’s a comparison of achievements done right: 

• Compiled and distributed qualitative questionnaires with a 90% response rate. 
• Completed 50% of the data analysis later used to advance the project’s 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 wasn’t to distinguish yourself but help others. If that’s the case, listing responsibilities is OK. 

Here’s how that would look like in your resume: 

• Registering homeless people into the shelter.
• Unpacking and distributing food aids. 
• Oversee opening and closing of the shelter 2 times/week. 

Tip #3: Keep It Relevant

Only mention your volunteering experience if they’re recent and relevant .

For example, if you volunteered 5 years back, and since then you have worked several professional roles in your field, you don’t need to go back in time and mention that volunteering experience (even if it was an amazing learning experience).

In such a case, your volunteering experience is neither recent (it happened 5 years ago), nor relevant (you probably learned a lot more from your recent positions).

Key takeaways 

And we’re done! By now, you should know everything on how to include volunteering experience in a resume.

Now, let’s recap all the main points we’ve covered:

• Volunteer experience can be a huge plus to your job application, especially if you are a recent graduate, have a gap in your resume, or are applying to an NGO.  
• List volunteer experience either as a separate section or as work-related experience (if your volunteering experience is related to the job you’re applying for). 
• When listing your volunteering experiences, when possible, include achievements over responsibilities. Responsibilities are what put you on the same plate as all other applicants - your achievements are what set you apart! 

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How to Include Volunteer Work on a Resume: A Guide

The main purpose of writing a resume is to inform an employer of the skills and experience you have that qualifies you for a specific job. When you’re writing a resume , you may wonder whether or not you can mention volunteer work that you have completed.

Not only can you list volunteer work on your resume, but doing so is often a great way to demonstrate your skills and help hiring managers understand your interests (including those that are not directly related to your job).

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In this guide, we discuss how to include volunteer work on your resume and walk through a few examples of volunteer work listings on a resume.

Why Include Volunteer Work on a Resume

Listing volunteer work on your resume can have a number of advantages.

By listing volunteer work on your resume, you can better showcase the skills you have acquired. For instance, if you run a local chapter of a volunteer running group, you may have acquired skills in event planning and fundraising that could be useful on the job.

Volunteer work is also valuable to list on your resume if you have limited professional experience. If you have just graduated from high school or college, for instance, you may not have much—or any—experience in the workforce.

Mentioning any experience you have volunteering is a good way to show that you have experience working in a non-educational environment, which can go a long way to convincing an employer that you are the right candidate for a job.

How to Include Volunteer Work on a Resume

Three areas where you can include volunteer work on a resume are:

• In the professional history section

In a Volunteer Experience Section

• In its own section

In the Professional History Section

If you are a student who has very little professional experience—or are just starting in the workforce—then you should consider adding volunteer work to the professional experience section of your resume.

Once you have listed any work experience you have, you can also mention the volunteering opportunities which you have pursued in your career. For instance, if you have volunteered at a local charity to help them fundraise, or helped with a house-building volunteer project, you could mention it in your professional history section.

Here’s an example of volunteer work listed in the professional history section of a resume:

Habitat for Humanity

Volunteer Builder, July 2019-August 2019

• Helped coordinate the start of a Habitat for Humanity project
• Contributed to building four rooms in a house for the project
• Worked with a team of 70 volunteers

As you can see, this description is accompanied by a list of three bullet points outlining what the candidate learned from the position. If you are mentioning volunteer work in your professional experience, you should feel free to explore what impact you had in the volunteer position in more depth than you otherwise would. 

Alternatively, you can list your volunteer experience in its own section.

This is a common approach for people who already have extensive professional experience but want to showcase a few of the volunteering opportunities they have pursued.

In Its Own Section

In addition, if you have experience that is unrelated to the position for which you are applying, adding it into its own section is a good idea.

This is because, unless you have no other experience to mention, you don’t want to make unrelated experience appear too prominently on your resume. Such information may distract the reader from the key points you are trying to make.

Here is an example of a listing in a volunteer experience section:

Volunteer Experience

Charitable Fundraising Drive Volunteer | Local Radio Station | January 2016-May 2016

Including Volunteer Work on Your Resume: Top Tips

Now that we’ve discussed where you can include volunteer work on your resume, let’s explore a few top tips you can use to make the most out of listing volunteer work on your resume.

Tip #1: Only list volunteer work when it is relevant.

Volunteer work is a good way to showcase the wide range of skills you have. However, you should only list volunteer work when you feel doing so will add value to your resume.

If you have extensive professional experience in a field, or if the volunteer work you have done is completely unrelated to the job for which you are applying, you may want to consider leaving it out.

This will give you more room to discuss your skills, educational history, and past work experiences that are more directly related to the position, thereby making it easier for you to position yourself as a good candidate for a job.

#2: Update your resume for each position.

While this may sound unnecessary, one way to ensure your resume will stand out is to personalize it for each position you apply for. 

You should make sure that every resume you write for a job reflects the needs of the employers and how you meet those needs. So, if you have volunteer experience that relates to one position but not another, you may want to submit two different resumes to ensure each of them reflects your core skills and experiences relevant to the job.

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#3: Keep your volunteer experience short if you have other experience.

If you are using volunteer work to stand in for professional history—which is common if you are a student or a recent grad—then you may want to use a longer description. However, if you already have work experience that you can list on your resume, there is no need to delve too deep into each volunteer position you have held.

Here is an example of a volunteer experience listing on a resume:

Fundraising Volunteer | Local Non-Profit | Oakland, CA | April, 2019

Facilitated the tracking of $5,000 in donations sources from our email campaign and grassroots fundraising efforts.

Resume Volunteer Work: An Example

What does volunteer work look like when listed on a resume? Here is an resume sample to help you understand how volunteer experience should appear on a resume in more depth:

Hilda Brown

Oakland, California

[email protected]

A dedicated administrative assistant with two years experience coordinating the schedules of executives.

Key assisting skills include: Communication, customer service, phone etiquette, discretion, organization, experience with Google Calendar, Airtable, Excel, and email, knowledge of administrative practices within large organizations.

Professional Experience

Executive Assistant

Smith Paper Company

April 2018 – Present

• Worked to coordinate the schedule of Office Manager
• Answered the phone and took memos for Office Manager
• Managed all ingoing and outgoing correspondence for the Office Manager

Volunteer Administrator

Oakland Animal Shelter

• Provided scheduling support for the head of the Oakland Animal Shelter
• Screened and routed phone calls to the appropriate parties
• Made travel arrangements for the head of the shelter
• Filed and generated reports and presentations on behalf of manager

University of Notre Dame

August 2014 – August 2018

Bachelor’s of Communication, 3.8 GPA

Listing volunteer work on your resume is a good way to showcase the additional skills you have acquired outside of the professional workforce.

For people without any professional experience — such as students or recent graduates — volunteer experience is a good way to showcase that you have some working experience outside of school, even if it was not as part of a business or government organization.

By following the tips in this guide, you will be able to include volunteer experience effectively on your resume. The volunteer experience you list may be what encourages a recruiter to reach out to you to schedule an interview !

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How to Include Volunteer Work on Your Resume

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Should you include volunteer work on your resume?

How to include volunteer work on a resume, template for including volunteer work on a resume, volunteer work on resume example.

Mentioning your volunteer work experience on your resume can increase your chances of getting hired. It can also create a positive impression of your personality and bring added-value to your skills and qualifications. This article explains why it can be beneficial to list volunteer work on your resume and how you can include it with the help of a template and an example.

Volunteering can be time well-spent as a method for developing your skills while benefiting the community. The main objective of volunteer work is to unify with others towards the common good for an important cause or some other form of beneficial activity. Some people engage in volunteer work to establish connections in their community while others simply enjoy offering their time and talents in service to a particular cause or organization. Mentioning volunteer work on your resume can leave a positive impression about your skills and personality on an employer.

The following steps can be followed to specify volunteer work on resume effectively:

1. Firstly, select the right section to display the volunteer work

Placing the volunteer work effectively on your resume is extremely important to create the right impression. You may display the volunteer experience next to your work experiences for the continuity and flow of information. If, however, you place the volunteer work experience before the actual work experience, it may create an adverse impression on your employer.

2. Secondly, make a selective list of your volunteer work

You shouldn’t mention an excessive number of volunteer work roles on your resume. The employer likely has minimal time to review your resume. You should include volunteer work that best projects your personality and interests. You can select up to two to three of your best volunteer experiences to list on your resume. You can then create a positive impression about the volunteer work mentioned on your resume, and you can discuss them further if you are asked about them in an interview. 

3. Thirdly, select related volunteer work

Select the volunteer work that is related to your application. Similar volunteer work can improve your resume’s 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 you’re 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.

4. Fourthly, follow a particular format

You may choose any format that suits your requirements. It is, however, recommended that you select a format that is generally used to mention volunteer work on resumes. An example of the format may include specifying the volunteer work category at the top. You can then add one line, with the name of the work/experience and the address where the activity occurred. 

This information can be followed by one or two points elaborating your part in the activity, the results and the benefit of the experience. You may tailor a format that suits your purpose yourself. You may also add or reduce sections or points to the format mentioned above as per your requirements.

5. Next, mention one or two unrelated roles in volunteer work

Mentioning unrelated volunteer work on the resume can help the recruiter in seeing the diverse range of activities that you have contributed to. Unrelated volunteer work may include any activity that is not directly related to the vacancy. It may also include volunteer work done in a different industry or formal environment.

6. Then, diversify the categories that you mention

Volunteer work can belong to five categories: formal, governance, non-formal, social action and project-based. It is essential that on a general resume, you portray a combination of these volunteer works you have done. If, however, your resume targets a specific job, it is better to mention volunteer work that relates to the job category only. If you are applying for the job of a project manager, you may include details of any volunteer work where you have managed or assisted with a project.

7. Finally, only include work you have done

You should only mention the volunteer work that you have actually performed. Mentioning volunteer work experience that is not real can create a negative impression on the employer if they find out. It may become one of the reasons for your application to get rejected.

Use the following template as guidance for including volunteer work on a resume:

[Title of first related (formal) volunteer work]

[Name of event/position title]

• [A one-line summary of your role in the activity]
• [A one-line description of the results of the volunteer activity]
• [Brief description of your experience]

[Title of second related (formal) volunteer work]

• [Brief description of your experience or a particular thing that you learned from your experience]

[Title of first unrelated (any category) volunteer work]

[Title of second unrelated (any category) volunteer work (if any)]

Here is an example of what volunteer work could look like on your resume:

Related Volunteer Work

Rosemount Volunteer Fundraising, 24 Community Complex

• Worked as a senior assistant in fundraiser management, directly under the main event manager 
• Collected $150,000 from 2,000 tickets, sold for the concert exceeding the target by $25,000
• Learned promotional methods and gained top-level event management experience

Hospital volunteering

Member of the Hospital Management Committee, Great Grand Hospital

• Worked in the hospital management department in coordinating weekly management activities 
• Managed the daily routine works of both the administration and domestic staff 
• Learned time-based and everyday management processes and methodologies

Neighborhood cleaning

Cleaning crew, 24th Grand Street

• Engaged with a group of friends in cleaning the excessive waste in the landfill site near our home street
• Gained group working experience

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How To Include Volunteer Work On A Resume (With Examples)

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Writing a resume can become stressful when you only have one page to detail your best accomplishments.

There are more additional resume sections that can help you stand out. People often list publications, job training courses, and volunteer experience on their resumes.

We’re here to help you understand what elements of volunteer experience hiring managers like to see, give advice for how to include that experience on your resume, and show you examples of a few different ways of doing it.

Key Takeaways:

Volunteer work can be added to your work experience section, or in its on volunteer experience section.

It’s important to customize your resume to each job you apply to and do your research to add skills that would work well for the job.

For some industries, volunteer work is important, so adding it to your resume can help you stand out from other candidates.

How To List Volunteer Work On a Resume

Examples of volunteer work on a resume, tips for including volunteer work on your resume, volunteer work on a resume faq, final thoughts.

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Now that you know that adding volunteer work on a resume is an amazing idea for most applicants, you might be wondering where to add volunteer experiences to your resume.

There are essentially two ways you can add volunteer work on a resume: within your work experience section or in a separate section at the bottom of your resume dedicated to volunteer work.

Work experience section. If you have significant employment gaps or sparse employment history, consider adding the volunteer experiences to your work history section. It will help bulk up that section and fill in work gaps. When adding volunteer experiences to your work history section, be careful which ones you list.

Consider adding the volunteer experiences that are related to your industry to the work history section and the experiences that are unrelated to a separate section at the bottom.

When you add volunteer experience to the work history section, format it the same as you would for any other official position. Include the job title you would have if you worked formally in that capacity, but add “volunteer” in front of it.

Volunteer experience section. If you add it to a separate section at the bottom, you can make the listing as brief as you want. If the role is not related to your job or job skills at all, you may just want to list your position and which organization you volunteered for — you don’t have to detail out each experience.

You can also treat this volunteer section like a separate work experience section, especially if you have multiple volunteering roles under your belt. List the name of the organization, the dates you were involved, and give 2-3 bullet points on what you did while volunteering there.

As with anything you include on your resume , make sure you can quantify what you’ve accomplished in that role and highlight the skills you’ve developed or used while volunteering.

For example, if you were a volunteer coordinator , list how many volunteers you managed. If you work regularly at a soup kitchen, detail out how many hours you’ve worked there and the approximate number of people you’ve served.

In addition to quantifying your volunteer deliverables, take care of how you write your work summaries. Remember that many resumes are first read by a computer. When going through an applicant tracking system (ATS) , the computer is looking for keywords. Frame your volunteer work with keywords important to the job you are applying for.

Now that we know the why and the how of including volunteer work on your resume, let’s look at some examples.

Example 1: Work Experience Section

WORK EXPERIENCE Save Pups Fast | May 2019-Present Volunteer Coordinator Aid veterinarians in administering medicine to local dogs without owners Receive, stock, and organize two shipments each week, totaling $15,000 of equipment and medicine Develop and maintain Save Pups Fast social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram, increasing user base by 23% in 3-month period

Example Answer 2: Additional Work Experience Section

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE Food Bank Plus | 03/2016-01/2018 Volunteer administrator Cooked and served food for about 100 daily visitors each Sunday Maintained spreadsheet of charitable donations of over $50,000 Recruited at high schools, community colleges, and church groups to boost weekly volunteer count by 20

Example Answer 3: Volunteer Experience Section

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE Elder Care | August 2020-Present Work with seniors living in nursing homes to aid in the transition into assisted living; help with memory, loneliness, and depression through art therapy and fun, low-stress exercise activities. Diana’s Hair | June 2018-July 2019 Maintained a weekly newsletter for an organization dedicated to receiving donations of hair to create wigs for chemotherapy patients, driving student participation by 16%.

Example Answer 4: Accomplishments Section

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Created and managed marketing campaign for XYZ Inc. that drove app engagement by 213% and resulted in online sales more than doubling Dedicated weekends to the foundation and management of Backpacks for Billy, a volunteer organization that has helped over 200 youth (to-date) in poverty receive school supplies and educational materials free of cost Designed company blog for ABC Corp. that won “Blog of the Year 2018” in Content Marketing Weekly

When to use volunteer work. Volunteer work is always impressive, because it’s rare for people to devote their time and energy to worthy causes without getting paid for it.

That being said, volunteer work shouldn’t take up too much space on your resume unless you’re a recent graduate, you lack sufficient formal experience, you have a gap in your employment history, or you’re applying to a non-profit or public sector job with a penchant for advocacy.

The other times to really highlight your volunteer experience is when it’s very relevant to the job you’re applying for or it serves to boost your experience level with a certain skill set.

Customize your resume. Each time you send a resume as part of a job application, you should first edit your resume to be perfectly tailored to the job you’re applying for. That means that how much you highlight your volunteer experience changes depending on the nature of the organization and the role.

If you see a company is involved with philanthropic efforts related to your volunteer experience, you may spend extra real estate highlighting it, even if it’s not exactly related to the job you’re applying for. Values matter just as much as skills and qualifications for some hiring managers and recruiters.

Do your homework. Part of that above tip involved researching the company to find out what they value and what non-work-related efforts they’re a part of. Don’t stop there though.

Read the job description carefully and look for keywords that you can use in your resume — even the volunteer section.

For example, if you see the word “deliver” a lot in the job posting, and your current resume says “shipped,” changing your word choice is a low-effort way of ticking more boxes for an applicant tracking system and the actual hiring manager .

Be careful including activism. Activism is great, but it’s also explicitly political. Politics can always be dicey in work situations, and hiring managers might be wary of even interviewing you in case they come off as prejudiced if they decide not to hire you.

That said, if you’re applying to a political organization (that aligns with your values , we hope) or a company that’s somehow related to your background in activism, it’s probably good to include this type of work.

Also, if the activism was pretty politically neutral (“Stop killing whales” or “Feed the homeless”) and you performed duties that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, then go ahead and include it.

Does volunteer work look good on a resume?

Yes, adding volunteer work can help make your resume more competitive, so it is a good idea to add it to your resume. For some industries, volunteer work is a highly valuable asset to bring up.

For example, if you are applying for a position in the non-profit sector or looking for a position in academia , definitely add those volunteer experiences. But volunteering isn’t just for those folks — it is a great thing to consider doing no matter what industry you work in.

Adding volunteer experience to your resume can help boost your application’s chances. Including volunteer experiences show that you have the drive to help your community. It shows that you are interested in being a part of something else for reasons outside of earning money and highlights your non-work-related interests.

Is volunteer work important on a resume?

For certain types of job-seekers, volunteer experience can make or break your job application. Volunteering can be an incredibly valuable experience that can help bulk up resumes that have little professional experience — we’re looking at you, recent graduates .

If you are currently out of work , volunteering can help fill gaps in your resume’s timeline. Showing volunteer experience shows that you are dedicated to applying yourself even when you’re between jobs.

Many hiring managers consider relevant volunteer positions as beneficial as paid positions. For example, if you are a volunteer social media manager for a non-profit, that will look very favorably for you if you are applying for social media management positions.

What are some examples of volunteer experience?

Examples of volunteer work to add to your resume could be beach clean up, animal care and rescue, and working with children and youth. If you are apart of any organization that participates in volunteer work, you can always add that to your resume as well.

If you are looking to start volunteering more, look into organizations within your community and they will have places to look. Volunteering is a great way to help improve your community, and a way for you to get to know those within your community.

Forgetting to add volunteer work to a resume is a critical error for many job applicants. Many hiring managers are looking for diverse and well-rounded job applicants. They want to know that you can do your job well, but they also want to know if you have interests outside of work .

Volunteering is a great way to learn more about your community, find hobbies, and learn skills outside of work.

While many older job seekers probably have a lot of work experience to include on their resume and may not need to list any volunteer experiences, recent graduates and applicants who have a work gap need to use volunteer work to help them land the job.

It’s not just those groups who benefit from showing off volunteer work, though. Any hiring manager or recruiter will be impressed by an individual who devotes themselves to a cause they believe in without pay. So go ahead and highlight that volunteer experience, as long as your amazing resume has room for it.

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Heidi Cope is a former writer for the Zippia Career Advice blog. Her writing focused primarily on Zippia's suite of rankings and general career advice. After leaving Zippia, Heidi joined The Mighty as a writer and editor, among other positions. She received her BS from UNC Charlotte in German Studies.

Don Pippin is an executive and HR leader for Fortune 50 and 500 companies and startups. In 2008, Don launched area|Talent with a focus on helping clients identify their brand. As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, Certified Digital Career Strategist, and Certified Personal Branding Strategist, Don guides clients through career transitions.

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How to Include Volunteer Experience on a Resume [+Examples]

Including volunteering in your resume is always a great idea. But once you've decided to do it, you unavoidably arrive at the question: how to include volunteer experience on your resume exactly?

If you do it well, it can completely elevate your resume above others. If not, it can make your resume more difficult to navigate. 

Above all else, the volunteering section of your resume is one of the few places where you can demonstrate your character . 

It shows what you care about and what you find important. It can make you look proactive, invested in your community, and even selfless. 

In other words, the volunteering section of your resume can make you irresistible to employers. So how do you make it stand out?

This guide will help you with it.

 It will also answer these pressing questions:

What is the resume volunteer experience section?

• Why should you list your volunteer experience on your resume?
• Where should you put your volunteer experience section on a resume?
• How to write one if you’re a student or a fresh graduate?
• How to write one as an experienced professional?

How to include volunteer work experience on a resume (video guide)

The volunteer experience section is the place on your resume where you mention any kind of work you do voluntarily and for free.

Not only does your volunteering work benefit your community, it also has the potential to benefit your career . It’s an excellent way to showcase those skills, strengths and motivations that would otherwise not find their way onto your resume.

For instance, are you caring and enthusiastic? These are excellent personal strengths that you might find difficult to place on a resume.

Well, now you don’t have to just write about them in your cover letter, your volunteering experience will speak for itself.

However, in order to truly nail it, you also need to know  why,  how  and  where  to write about your volunteering. And that very much depends on where you are in your career.

Why should you list volunteer experience on your resume?

So why should you include volunteering experience on your resume? Isn't having a good degree and extensive work experience enough?

There are two main reasons why you should consider volunteering and placing it on your resume. 

It will impress recruiters

For some, volunteering is  as valuable as paid work . About 41% of hiring managers consider volunteer work as valuable as paid work when evaluating candidates (according to a  LinkedIn survey ). 

Moreover, about 20% of hiring managers in the U.S. hired a candidate based on their volunteer experience.

It speaks volumes about your character

In addition to skills particular to every position, volunteer experience always shows an employer that you’re willing to get involved in your community, take initiative, and make things happen. 

In other words, volunteering shows qualities that are highly sought after in every industry.

What other personal qualities do recruiters associate with volunteering?  

• Being a people person 
• Leadership skills
• A service mindset
• Ability to work within a team 
• Being passionate about a cause
• Inner drive and motivation 
• Dependability

Where should you put your volunteer experience on a resume?

As we've already mentioned, that heavily depends on where you're in your career. When it comes to the order of the resume sections, the rule of thumb is quite simple —  the most relevant things come first. 

So if you have plenty of work experience, volunteering can be placed toward the end of your resume. However, if most of your experience so far comes from volunteering, then feel free to list it at the beginning of your CV. 

• Are you a student or a fresh graduate?  In this case, you probably lack years of work experience. This means that you should treat your volunteer experience as regular work experience. Feel free to even include your volunteer work in your work experience section.
• Are you an experienced professional?  Then you should create a separate section dedicated exclusively to your volunteer work. But if you had a volunteer job that’s highly relevant to the job you’re applying for, consider mentioning it in your work experience section.

So, how to list it on your resume in both scenarios?

How to list volunteer experience if you’re a student or a fresh graduate?

Most recruiters see volunteer experience similarly to paid  work experience  anyway. Just because you didn’t get paid, it doesn’t mean you didn’t do a good job.

And since you don’t have extensive paid work experience to lean on, treat your volunteering just like a job that you got paid for doing. 

List your volunteering role/s as you would full-time paid jobs:

• Place it in the section towards the beginning of your resume , right beneath your  education section . 
• If you have more volunteering experiences,  list them in reverse-chronological order  (place the newest experience at the top). 
• Include details about each volunteering gig : place, organization, dates, relevant tasks you undertook, and skills you’ve learned. 

Pro tip:  Be specific rather than vague. Don’t only list your responsibilities, but also mention your accomplishments. Instead of writing  “Volunteered for a university magazine” , say  “Wrote 28 articles for a university magazine” . See the difference?

Below is a great example.

Student resume volunteering sample

Look at how the following student resume sample incorporates volunteering. Pay attention to how Gia, even though she was still a student, managed to fill her whole resume with valuable experiences. 

She correctly included internships in the work experience section. And as she had plenty of them, she wisely placed volunteering in a separate section for it to stand out.

The rest was easy — all she had to do is fill in the dates, location, name of the organization she volunteered for, and responsibilities she’s had. 

How to list volunteer experience if you’re a seasoned professional?

Volunteering is a great addition to your resume even if you’re a seasoned professional.

• This is true  especially if the volunteering experience is related to the job you’re applying for , it lasted for a while, or majorly shaped your personality or professional path in a major way. In this case, you may want to highlight the volunteering section or place it closer to the top of the resume. Alternatively, you can place the most prominent volunteering experience in the work section.
• On the other hand,  even if the volunteering experience wasn’t as extensive or didn’t relate to your career , it’s not a problem. In this case, you may want to consider placing it near the end of your resume. 

Either way, when describing volunteering, try to be specific and list your  key achievements  in the same way you do with your work experience. 

For instance, if you volunteer as a Blood Bank Officer, instead of writing  “Administration and control of the blood bank” , write  “Administered 7 blood drives with 350+ donors for the Red Cross and Armed Services Blood Programs.”

Alternatively, you can just briefly mention where you volunteer and what you do.

Take a look at the resume sample below to see how! 

Seasoned professional volunteering resume sample

Volunteer work: one more piece of resume advice

• Relate it to your skills.  If you gained or improved some skills through your volunteer work, include these in the description. Pay special attention to those skills that match the job description.
• Use action verbs.  Make your volunteer section even more powerful and appealing. This helps the hiring manager understand your skillset and see you as a dedicated member of the team.
• Stay positive.  Focus on how you’re helping the community rather than the negative aspects that you’d like to change.
• Use quantifiable achievements , if possible. It always makes you look more accomplished. 
• Use volunteering to fill in the gaps.  If you found yourself jobless for a while, volunteering during this period can easily cover the unwanted resume gap. 
• Be careful when writing about religious or political volunteering , you may be unfairly rejected if the recruiter isn't fond of your values.
• Put it in context. Explain the issues or challenges the community or organization you volunteered with was facing, and how your role contributed to addressing these. This gives potential employers a clearer picture of your problem-solving skills and adaptability.
• Don't underestimate soft skills. Volunteering often helps individuals develop interpersonal, communication or leadership skills. Highlight these soft skills as they are valued by employers and can set you apart.
• Personalize your experiences. Instead of simply listing your volunteer activities, share a brief story or specific instance where you made a significant impact. This humanizes your experiences and can make your resume more memorable.

Find out your resume score!

Do you have a LinkedIn profile filled with all the important details, including your academic background, skills, experience, and qualifications? You can easily  turn it into a polished resume with just one click.

What to avoid when writing about your volunteering experience on your resume?

Don’t include information that's too outdated. If you’re in your 30s and write about volunteering that you did during your high school years, the recruiter will know that you have no new experiences to lean on. In other words, keep your resume relevant and up to date. 

What are the most common forms of volunteering found on resumes?

Fundraising, followed by teaching and serving food.

Should I talk about church volunteering on my resume?

This topic requires some delicacy. In general, it's advised not to disclose information about your race, religion, or orientation on your resume in order to avoid being discriminated against.

This means it's better to think twice before openly disclosing your church activities. On the other hand, there's a chance that you're applying for a position that's affiliated with the church, or a position that requires volunteering experience. In that case, be the judge of the situation and include everything that you think could give you an advantage over other candidates.

Should I include one-time volunteering activities on my resume or only long-term commitments?

It largely depends on the nature of the activity. If it was a meaningful, one-time event where you gained or demonstrated significant skills or made a notable impact, it might be worth including. However, a long-term commitment generally demonstrates dedication and sustained interest, which can impress employers.

If I have extensive volunteering experience, should I create a separate section for it on my resume or include it in my work experience section?

If you have considerable volunteering experience, it's recommended to create a separate 'Volunteer Experience' section. This allows you to showcase your social responsibility, leadership, and other skills obtained from volunteering. If the volunteering experience is limited, it's acceptable to include it under 'work experience' or 'additional experience'.

Kaja Jurčišinová

Kaja Jurcisinova is a fresh graduate and a junior copywriter at Kickresume. Kaja completed her undergraduate degree in Art History at the University of St Andrews in 2018 and graduated with a Master’s in Arts and Culture from the University of Groningen in 2021. She was an intern at multiple cultural institutions across Europe, including the Dutch Museum Association in Amsterdam, the Matter of Art Biennale in Prague, and the European Cultural Centre in Venice. At the moment, she resides in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.

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Volunteer Work on Resume: The 2022 Guide to Listing Volunteering Experience on Resume

We are often flooded with questions when it comes to listing volunteer experience on resume.

• How to list volunteer work on resume?
• Can volunteer experience on resume actually help?
• How to include volunteer work on resume so that it actually adds value and does not end up backfiring?
• Where to put volunteer work on resume?
• How to describe volunteer work on resume?

Here's a summary of how to include volunteer work on a resume:

• Make a separate volunteer work section below professional experience section.
• Include this section in case of career gap.
• Quantify your points in this section to bring out the impact of your work.
• Use (mm/yy - mm/yy) format to write the dates.
• Use bullets to write your points and key skills.

You get the gist.

Remember, we are all M.A.D here!

Making A Difference, aren't we?

Working at the local animal shelter, helping out at the fund raiser, planning event at the town fair, volunteering at an old age home...we have all made a difference in other's lives at some point in our lives.

But when it comes to resumes, jobseekers often wonder whether or not it is acceptable to put volunteer work on resume? More importantly, what all job profiles allow including this volunteer resume?

The resume experts at Hiration believe that these experiences are an excellent way to showcase your key skills . They can definitely be put with other work experiences on your resume - in certain situations only.

So, how to list volunteer work on resume in the best possible manner? How to put volunteer work on resume so that the recruiter is amazed by your track record? More importantly, how to include volunteer work on resume so that it does not end up hurting your chances? Can it?

If you can't figure out how to describe volunteer work on resume or where to put volunteer work on resume, you can check out our 20+ customized free resume templates to give you an idea of the best outcome.

You can find them on our Online Resume Builder here .

After reading this Volunteer Work on Resume Guide, you should know

• How to add volunteer work to resume
• Where to put volunteer work on resume
• How to describe volunteer work on resume
• How many volunteer experiences on resume should you include

Additionally, you can find volunteer resume sample on our online resume builder that will help you kickstart your journey to your dream job!

This Guide on volunteer Experience on Resume will cover the following topics:

When to Put Resume Volunteer Experience in a Special Section How to Include Volunteer Resume Bullet Points to Prove You're Perfect for the Job When to Leave Volunteering Experience off Your Resume Key Takeaway

Should You Include Volunteer Work on Resume?

[ Back to Table of Content ]

Our identities do not revolve around our 9-5 jobs.

• According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn , 41% of employers find volunteer work as valuable as paid work.
• About 20% of recruiters in the U.S. have also hired a candidate based on their volunteer resume .
• Only 30% of applicants list volunteer work on resume.
• Most recruiters prefer to see volunteer experience on resume.

No wonder if you have a volunteer section on resume, the chances of grabbing that dream job go up drastically. In a resume, volunteer experience might not make it to the top 3 sections, but it can sure tip the scales in your favour.

Apart from the skills required for that particular job profile, volunteer experience on resume brings out highly sought after qualities . It showcases that you are:

• Willing to get involved in your community
• Take initiative
• Make things happen
• Work in a team to achieve a common goal

It would be a terrible mistake to not showcase all this if you can.

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 important to add volunteer 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 (personal or otherwise), but including your volunteer experience on resume is a great option. It shows that you have spent the time actively engaging with the community and developing new skills .

Add featured snippets before TOC

Where to Include Volunteer Work on Resume?

There are two ways in which you can include your volunteer experience on resume.

Volunteer Work on Resume in your Professional Experience Section

The resume experts at Hiration believe that the only reason why you must include your volunteer work in your professional experience section is:

• If it is extremely relevant to your target profile
• If there are gaps in your professional trajectory
• If you have minimal professional experience (0-2 years of experience)

In our opinion, you have to be extremely cautious when you are including your volunteer experience in this format.

Let's say you are a freelance marketer who took a break for 2 months, and in that time, you rendered your services at the local animal shelter.

Will you put it in a separate Volunteer Section on resume or will it go in your Professional Experience section?

Depends . On how you frame it.

Hiration Protip: If you are phrasing your volunteer experience on resume as professional experience, you can name it along those lines . Example: "Financing Experience," or "Accounting Experience."

If you write

Volunteered at the local animal shelter for 2 months and helped them with their marketing initiatives

You might as well not include it altogether. At best, you can include something like this in a separate volunteer section on resume, but if you are including it in your Professional Experience section, you are doomed.

However, if you include something along the lines of:

Independent Marketing Consultant for Pups4Ever, a local animal shelter

• Conceptualized a social media campaign for the shelter's landmark Annual Fundraising Campaign
• Boosted followers across all platforms by 250% and increased user engagement by 97%
• Played a key role in recruiting a team of 3 Marketing Interns for bolstering the publicity of the annual event

Now this, this changes things.

Something like this can be placed in your Professional Experience section. Phrasing your volunteering experience on resume along these lines allows you to demonstrate your professional expertise WHILE also showcasing your initiatives w.r.t community engagement.

A Separate Volunteer Section on Resume

In what all instances would you require a separate Volunteer section on resume?

In our experience, you need a separate Volunteering section on your resume if

• It's not related to your preferred profile
• You have a decent amount of professional experience (3+ years)
• There are no gaps in your professional trajectory

Hiration Protip: Even if it has been a long time since you last volunteered, include that in your resume. While most jobseekers refrain from showcasing their volunteer experience on resume, recruiters actually prefer that.

How to include Volunteer Experience on Resume?

Use power words & action verbs to make your volunteer section on resume look even more powerful and appealing.

Check out this comprehensive guide on how to use resume action words and power verbs to learn how to strategically use them in your resume.

Try to be as detailed as you possibly can while you are describing your volunteer work on resume.

Instead of saying

Volunteered at the Care Shelter Home for Boys as an English Teacher

Write something along the lines of

Taught Communicative English to 10 children-at-risk and improved their monthly BAT scores by 16%

Following qualities are usually displayed in a volunteer experience on resume. And the best part is: The hiring managers love it !

• Team Management & Leadership
• Community Engagement
• Interpersonal Skills
• Self-Motivation
• Physical Fitness
• Stakeholder Management
• Reliability
• Specific Task-based Skills

Checklist for Volunteer Work on Resume

The volunteer resume checklist is here!

Adding volunteer experience on resume makes it stand out like the Sword of Durendal . Just follow these important tips:

• If it is relevant , add volunteer work to your professional experience section.
• If it is not relevant , or you have an extensive professional experience, include volunteer experiences on resume in a separate section.
• If you are making a separate section, make sure it's below your Professional Experience section
• Detail your volunteer experiences on resume instead of mentioning generic pointers. Include figures and quantifiable impact wherever possible
• Even if it's been a while since you last volunteered, include that in your volunteer resume
• Prefer bullet points over a paragraph for your volunteer resume

Spoke on a panel about stress management at the IRT Conference for students. Volunteered twice a month as a product deliverer for FedEx. Wrote a blog on time and money constraints for kids for "Workell" Magazine

Go to Hiration career platform which has 24/7 chat support and get professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries. You can also write to us at [email protected] and we will make sure to reach out to you as soon as possible.

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How To List Volunteer Experience on Resumes

Listing volunteer experience on resumes is more important than you’d think. Showing employers your charity work showcases your work ethic, skills, and personal values. This helps experienced professionals align with a company’s culture, and allows job seekers with little work history to show their relevant experience. This guide discusses the importance of a volunteer section on resumes and provides a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Why should you add volunteer work on resumes?

It isn’t traditional paid work, but volunteering on resumes communicates a lot to a potential employer and offers a lot of benefits:

• Shows your skills and qualifications : Adding volunteer experience that aligns with your targeted role adds even more legitimacy to your qualifications. For example, a vet who volunteers at animal shelters.
• Introduces employers to your values : Your volunteer experience communicates your beliefs and personality to the hiring manager. It shows them you care about your community, people, animals, or the environment.
• Displays work ethic : Displaying your volunteer work shows employers you have a strong work ethic, even when you don’t have a monetary incentive.
• Helps job seekers with little work experience : If you have little work experience to add to your resume, community service and volunteering give you a way to communicate your skills and qualifications.
• Facilitates career changing : If you’re transitioning careers, you may have little experience in your newly chosen industry, but volunteer work is a great way to show employers you’re ready for the switch. For example, a graphic designer switching to a UI/UX design role could volunteer to help a website clean up its user interface.
• Explains career gaps : Volunteering between roles helps explain employment gaps to hiring managers. This is also an excellent way for new graduates to put their university skills to use immediately.

How do you write a volunteer section on your resume?

Let’s get into how to list volunteer experience on resumes. We’ll go over where you add volunteer work, how to format it, and the right tone of voice to use.

Choose the right place to list your volunteer work

Choosing where to add your volunteer experience depends on your background and work experience, as well as the nature of your volunteer work.

If you’re a seasoned professional with plenty of work experience, your volunteer work should be in its own section at the bottom of your resume. When you have years of work history, you aren’t relying on volunteering to show your experience – it’s just there to show your passion and work ethic. This means it doesn’t have to be front and center.

On the other hand, if you have a lack of work history, you should list your volunteering efforts in your work experience section. This also applies if your volunteer work closely relates to your career field and helps prove your skills.

You can try out both sections and see which suits you best by using one of our handy resume templates .

Use proper formatting and layout

You want the volunteer section on your resume to be clean and easy to read, so pay close attention to formatting. The layout of a great volunteer section follows the fundamental rules of writing a work experience section on a resume:

• Use concise, appropriate headings
• Utilize white space to improve readability
• Include a bullet point list to highlight achievements

It’s also good to list the organization’s name, location, and the date you volunteered there – just like your work history.

Pay attention to language and tone

No matter the type of volunteer work, you should list it using professional language and tone (even if it was a highly casual experience).

It’s also important to tailor the tone of your volunteer section like the job description. If it’s a highly formal job post, match it – but if it’s more light-hearted and fun, don’t be afraid to make your volunteer work sound fun.

Expert Tip:

There’s no limit to the type of volunteer work you can add to your resume. Do volunteer at a blood drive, but only a few weekends a year? That still shows people skills and dedication. Just be sure to list the time frame so employers know.

3 tips for listing volunteer work on resumes

Now that you know the fundamentals, browse our top tips to optimize the volunteer section on resumes.

For even more advice, check out our large collection of resume articles that help job seekers shape the perfect application.

Highlight your achievements, not your duties

Hiring managers want to see the outcomes you achieved, not a list of your responsibilities. Tell the recruiter about the impact you had on your volunteer work, using measurable metrics if possible. Like this:

“Processed over 100 food shelf orders daily, enhancing productivity and ensuring struggling communities had a reliable food source.”

Tailor each entry to the job you are applying to

Carefully read the job ad you’re applying to and tailor your volunteer experience to it. For example, if the job description asks for interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence , use those terms instead of simply writing “empathy.”

This is an important step for creating an ATS resume , which is a resume that bypasses a company’s applicant tracking system (ATS) by using similar terminology.

Provide your most relevant experience

Consider the job you’re targeting when adding your volunteer work and ensure it’s relevant. You should list volunteer work relevant to the role and draw attention to transferable skills where possible.

Let’s say you’re applying for a sales role – make sure to mention how your community public speaking required people skills, charisma, and negotiation.

Note: You can add irrelevant volunteer work to your resume to show employers your values and humanitarian efforts, but make sure it doesn’t take up too much space.

“Your volunteer experience communicates your beliefs and personality to the hiring manager. It shows them you care about your community, people, animals, or the environment.”

Volunteer section on resumes: Realistic examples

Let’s get you started by reviewing a few realistic examples of volunteer experience on resumes.

The first example is a nurse with professional work experience, backing up their qualifications with a volunteer work section:

Volunteer Nurse Ferris Cane Clinic, Madison, WI October 2021 – November 2022

• Accumulated over 500 hours of volunteer experience helping patients to medical appointments, changing patients’ bed linens, and serving patients food
• Spent time talking to and reassuring patients, listening to their concerns, and addressing them, leading to a 98% satisfaction rate according to surveys

Now let’s see volunteering on a resume for a job seeker who’s changing careers from an administrative assistant to a writer:

Volunteer Writer Palace Times, Rochester, NY March 2022 – January 2024

• Leveraged keen attention to detail to write highly accurate, well-researched articles, leading to a 10% increase in productivity
• Adhered closely to writing guidelines and seamlessly created brand-aligned pieces

Check out our resume examples for more resume samples, including role-specific resumes and volunteer sections.

Add volunteer experience on resumes and show employers your passions

Volunteering is a powerful act, and hiring managers love to see it. List volunteer work on resumes and tell employers about yourself, including your values, skills, and interests. 

Follow our tips to create a strong volunteer section:

• Tailor your volunteer section to the job ad, using similar terminology
• Include the most relevant volunteer work from your history
• Showcase achievements instead of responsibilities

Check out CVwizard’s Resume Builder to easily build a resume with volunteer experience, whether you want to add it to your work section or dedicate a separate area.

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Volunteer Work on a Resume

Add your volunteer work to give your resume something extra.

Certified Professional Resume Writer

Adding voluntary work to a resume could be just what you need to show potential employers you mean business.

Volunteer work covers a wide range of activities and can  vastly improve your chances of getting an interview  for your ideal job if you know  how to put volunteer work on your resume  in a way that shows your strengths, dedication and enthusiasm.

Jobseekers learn new skills or gain experience everyday  through a variety of tasks, whether in their academic career, occupation or through hobbies in their free-time.

One of the most underrated but awarding activities that people participate in is  volunteer work . This could be anything from the more typical volunteering your time and energy  helping out in an animal shelter  to volunteering your expertise in order to  improve the workings of a business .

You may be a seasoned volunteer in various roles or have just one long-term placement but in both cases you’ll have something to shout about that will  stand out on your resume  and mean  hiring managers take an interest in your application .

Check out the following  guide on how to include volunteer experience in your resume  to ensure you get the best shot at securing an interview.

Some people may consider that they have not been a volunteer but if you have been an active  member of a nonprofit organization , a school association,  involved in community service  or have helped out with  fundraising  or event planning, you have volunteered and have most likely benefited from doing so by  earning skills and experience which you can demonstrate on your resume .

How to add Volunteer Work on a Resume

How to include volunteer work on a resume  will depend on the type of  resume format  you choose to use, as you may wish to  highlight the unpaid work experience  as an extra activity or you may wish to incorporate the positions in your job history.

Candidates have the possibility to  include a resume section devoted to volunteer positions  that explains, similarly to the  professional work experience section , the position occupied and the company or association name.

You can also  list the responsibilities and tasks undertaken  and any outstanding achievements which you have accomplished if the position or company is  relevant to your professional profile  or the vacancy on offer.

This will vary if you choose a combination or  functional resume  as opposed to a   chronological layout  and jobseekers will need to fit the skills and appropriate information from each position as suitable.

In cases where your  volunteer work has brought you certain skills or new qualifications  but the positions do not directly correspond to the industry or position that you are applying to, it is advisable to  create a separate resume section  with the basic information and simply include the abilities or certificates without expanding on the responsibilities of the role.

For expert assistance on  how to write a winning resume including work experience , you could use an online resume builder or construct yours from a  resume template  using the practical examples as a guide.

Why include your volunteer work on a resume

Including volunteer work on your resume  could be what helps you convince a prospective employer that you have what it takes over other candidates.

If you’re wondering  why put volunteer work on your resume , look no further because we can think of a multitude of reasons that explain  how adding volunteer work to a resume can benefit you .

As mentioned, you’ve probably done a lot more volunteering than you originally thought so whether you have a  long career history  or you’re just started out, those extra activities do help to  show potential employers how you have grown your skill set  and where you have learnt new abilities or put them into practise.

When you include  examples of your achievements in voluntary positions  you are also displaying the outcome of your personal involvement and thus providing the hiring manager with concrete cases of how you will be the perfect fit for their business.

Another reason for  including voluntary work on your resume  is that it demonstrates your willingness to be involved and make change happen. This  display of initiative and sense of community  is a highly sought-after trait that many companies and organizations look for in their candidates.

It will not only make you  stand out from the crowd during the application process  but could also place you in high esteem among other staff or superiors if you are able to continue this  positive contribution towards the business . Public relations and the reputation of social responsibility are high priorities for many enterprises nowadays and having someone on their team with voluntary work under their belt can bring many  advantages to the company  in the form of networking, new clients, experience, specialist knowledge etc.

Additionally, many  employers consider voluntary work as worthwhile as paid employment  to a candidate’s experience, which means that they may even be looking out for it as a  basic element of your resume .

Also, something as simple as providing a basic  insight into what interests you  as an individual is a  positive aspect on a resume  because hiring managers spend hours looking through resumes each time they need to employ a new member of staff and  any candidate who mentions voluntary work on a resume is bound to catch their eye .

If you have been unemployed, or taken a leave of absence for any reason from a paid position and remained  active with voluntary work , this  shows a great dedication  on your part that speaks highly of you on any job application

Tips for adding your volunteer experience

Voluntary work is an excellent addition to any resume. Check out these  tips for including volunteer work on your resume .

• Firstly, it is vital to remember to  only include volunteer work that is relevant  to your profile and the role or industry you’re applying to.
• In all possible cases,  quantify any examples  of your responsibilities and accomplishments.
• Include  only the more recent  and critical positions or activities.
• If you decide to list various voluntary positions, either as part of the work experience section or in a separate part, it is advisable to do so in  reverse chronological order .
• Depending on the resume structure you select, it is recommendable to follow the  layout of the work experience positions  by including the information in the same format and order: organization name, dates, position and description where appropriate.
• There may be certain positions, companies, sectors etc. you would prefer to omit and this is perfectly acceptable if the voluntary work you undertook is not relevant or appropriate for your application or reveals information that you do not want to share with prospective employers.

Volunteer experience is fast becoming one of the more paramount sections of a resume  due to the increasingly positive response it receives from hiring managers in job applications.

This is especially true for student resumes, whether  seeking part-time employment or graduates , and  entry-level resumes  and any candidates looking to change career or returning to the workforce from an absence.

That said,  professional resumes  also benefit to a great extent from  including volunteer work in their application  due to the wide scope that this aspect can cover and the endless skills and experience it offers a jobseeker.

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
• Fundraising
• Chaperoning
• Offering services for free to neighbors, friends etc.
• School associations
• Providing transport
• Community Service
• Neighborhood Watch
• Counseling etc.

Voluntary experiences are nearly always career-enhancing  even when it may not be in the exact line of work you’re looking for, so don’t 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 .

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How to list volunteer work on resume (25 examples)

Published on:

• June 2, 2023

How to Put Volunteer Experience on Resume: Examples & 25+ Tips

A resume is usually a one-page sales document selling yourself to potential employers. It details your key skills, work experiences, and best achievements.

Writing a resume can be tedious and stressful.  

Still, there are probably burning questions like these:

“What should you include in your resume if you are a recent graduate with no work experience yet?”

“How can your resume stand out when you don’t have any previous work experience to show?”

‘How can you attract a hiring manager’s attention in just 6 seconds without being dismissed due to inexperience?’”

Good thing a resume sample or resume template is there to the rescue. It would also be helpful to look for a resume format to take inspiration from. This way you can easily follow an outline or framework to help you craft your own.

However, it can be a bit of a challenge if you don’t have any experience to show.

Don’t worry, you can include other resume sections that will help you stand out.

Often, people list published works, training courses, and relevant volunteer experience on their resumes instead of the work experience section.

A volunteer experience section on your resume is where you list the work experiences you have done voluntarily and free of charge. It is a great way to demonstrate your core strengths, key skills, interests, and motivation.

We’ll explain how volunteer experience can still be considered professional experience on a resume.

Learn what qualities recruiters look for in a volunteer experience and how to include it on your resume.

In this guide, we’ll show you:

• How to put volunteer experience on your resume.
• Where to place or put volunteer experience on resumes.
• Resumes samples with volunteer experience you can use.
• When to add volunteer work under work experience.

Why you should include volunteer experience on a resume

Just like regular employment, volunteer work shows your skills. Here are several reasons why you may want to include volunteer work on a resume:

• Conveys transferable skills when shifting careers or industries.
• Explains employment gaps in your resume for a lengthy absence from the workforce
• Boost your chances of getting hired even if you have no professional experience (important for recent high school or college grads)
• Ensures your resume is competitive
• Indicates your passion for helping your community.
• Demonstrates your interests in something besides earning money and also highlights your non-work-related interests.
• Shows your dedication to an organization, and advances you in leadership roles within those organizations.

Who should include volunteer work experience on a resume

Volunteer work may make or break your job application for certain types of job-seekers, but may also be valuable:

• If you are applying to non-profit organizations or academic positions, where such work is highly valued.
• If you are a recent graduate or have little professional experience.
• If you are currently unemployed, volunteering can help you fill gaps on your resume. Volunteer work proves your commitment even when you’re between jobs.
• If you’re between jobs or hoping to boost your resume, consider volunteer work opportunities.
• Volunteer at one place consistently for a long time— it is better than jumping from one organization to another.
• Choose to volunteer within your industry to make your volunteer experience effective.

Not sure how to list volunteer work on resumes and cover letters? Where exactly to put volunteer work on a resume? 

Read on for more detailed steps, tips, and examples.

1. How to List Volunteer Work on a Resume When It’s Major

Myth: recruiters and hiring managers often hire candidates with work experience only..

Experience in volunteer work on a resume can help you get hired.

How? Let’s find out:

A  recent survey of the impact of volunteerism in employment shows that:

• 81% of HR executives said that skilled volunteering will be taken into consideration.
• 76% of respondents believe volunteer experience makes a job candidate more desirable.
• 81% of hiring managers said that volunteer work would make a college graduate more desirable.

 Myth…busted!

When to put volunteer work under the work Experience Section

  If the volunteer experience matches the job you are applying for, then it can count under work experience.

Does your volunteer experience demonstrate valuable skills the job posting seeks?

If yes, then you should list them like a job description on your resume. You can include it when your volunteer experience demonstrates multiple skills the job description wants.

You may add volunteer experiences to your work history section if you have considerable career gaps or sparse employment history. It will help fill in gaps and strengthen that section.

• List volunteer experience like a job using bulleted points.
• Choose carefully which volunteer activities you list in your work history section.
• Put volunteer experience relevant to your industry in the work history section.
• In the work history section, list volunteer activities as you would any other official position. Add “volunteer” before the job title you would have if you worked there formally.
• List unrelated volunteer experiences in a separate section at the bottom.
• Quantify your achievements and highlight the skills you developed while volunteering.
• Use keywords relevant to the job description when summarizing your volunteer experience to ensure your resume will pass ATS scans.

Example #1:

WORK EXPERIENCE

Rescue Paw Patrol | January 2020 – present

Volunteer Coordinator

• Aid veterinarians in administering medication to animals without owners
• Receive, stock, and arrange two shipments of equipment and medicine each week, worth $12,000
• Manage Rescue Paw Patrol’s social media accounts, increasing the user base by 27% in 5 months period.

Example #2:

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

Feeding California | Feb. 2018 – Feb 2020

Volunteer Administrator

•  Prepared and served food for about 100-200 pax on weekends
• Managed a spreadsheet listing charitable donations over $65,000.
• Recruited at high schools, colleges, and churches to achieve 20 more weekly volunteers

2. How to Add Volunteer Experience to a Resume When it is Minor

In some cases, the volunteer experience section is not an essential part of a resume for a specific job. Perhaps you’ve done work for free and voluntarily for someone and that doesn’t relate to the job you’re currently applying for. For instance, you walked dogs for a local shelter or a neighbor or organized a bake sale for a friend.

Your volunteer experience may be irrelevant, but it still has value. Just don’t include them as part of the professional experience section. And remember to show activities tied to skills in the job ad.

So, do you put volunteer work on your resume when it’s minor? Yes!

• Put it in a volunteering section below Experience if you have heaps of them.
• Put it in an Activities section if you don’t have much.
• Put Minor Volunteer Experience in a separate resume section lower down .
• Keep the list as brief as possible when you want to put your volunteer experience in a separate section at the bottom.
• Consider listing your position and which organization you volunteered for if the role isn’t directly related to your job or job skills at all. You don’t have to write every detail.
• Use the volunteer section as a separate work experience section, especially if you have held multiple positions.
• Mention the name of the organization, the dates you volunteered, and 2-3 bullet points detailing what you did there.

Volunteer Experience Section

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Safe Haven Elder Care | June 2020-Present

• Assist nursing home residents in making the transition to assisted living;
• Help elders cope with memory loss, loneliness, and depression through stress relief therapies in arts, music, gardening, and low-stress exercise activities.

Example #2: Minor Volunteer Experience on Resume (if you have lots)

Volunteer Job

• Church volunteer. Led fundraising efforts to raise $5,300 for charity.
• Elder Care/Nursing Home volunteer. Managed recordkeeping on 115 patients for 1.5 years with 100% HIPAA compliance.

Example #3: Minor Volunteer Experience on Resume (if you have little)

 Activities

•  Dog walker volunteer. Walked dogs at a rescue center every Sunday.
• [Insert minor volunteer activity #2]

3. 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 you’re 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

• When you volunteer your services in a professional capacity, this is known as pro bono work. This is ideal and is widely accepted by recruiters. For example, you volunteered to have a BCS (business case study) to prove your skills to an actual job and provide a quick win to a potential employer.
• Volunteer work in hospitals can show healthcare expertise. Additionally, it shows skills employers desire, such as teamwork and compassion.
• Volunteering at a nursing home can demonstrate teamwork, record-keeping skills, compassion, and more.
• Volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity can highlight collaboration and construction skills.
• Volunteering at a daycare proves organizational discipline and problem-solving skills.
• Church volunteer experience shows strong leadership, persuasion, and organizational skills.
• Volunteer activities in animal rescue centers show compassion and work ethic.
• Students can volunteer as coaches and tutors. This shows motivational skills and goal-driven attributes.
• Volunteers from the Homeless Shelter are excellent collaborators and communicators.
• Volunteering at a food bank can demonstrate interpersonal or organizational skills.
• Blood Drive volunteers demonstrate desirable skills such as teamwork and compassion.
• Leadership and training skills are common among basketball coaches who volunteer.
• Child care volunteer work is typically preferred for child care jobs. They show people skills in communication and collaboration.
• Providing care for an ailing parent can be listed as volunteer work on a resume.
• Volunteer opportunities for parents include helping teachers and coaches and organizing fundraisers.

Key Points:

• Include volunteer experiences on your resume if you have limited professional experience. This can help employers to learn about your interests and accomplishments.
• Put major volunteer experience under the work experience section of your resume if it shows multiple accomplishments that match the skills listed in the job ad.
• Include it in the activities section if you have minor experience or not enough to show on your resume.
• List a community service experience as a volunteer position on a resume. It avoids any suggestive criminal connotation.
• Incorporate volunteer experience into your experience section, skill section, or separate volunteer section.
• Ensure your volunteer experience relates to the job description using relevant keywords to optimize your resume for ATS scans.
• Create a personalized resume for each job application that matches the employer’s required skills, traits, and qualifications.
• Understand the employer’s ideal candidate. It can help you decide whether or not to include a volunteer section and where to position it.
• You should only include volunteer work on your resume if it will make your resume more credible when you lack valuable job experience. Otherwise, leave it off.

Marissa Letendre, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Marissa Letendre is a senior HR leader and resume expert with over 12 years of experience. She has worked for both startups and Fortune 50 corporations and has helped thousands land jobs at top companies. Marissa has written on a wide range of topics, including employee engagement, career development, resumes, job searching, recruiting, and organizational effectiveness and has been featured on sites such as Slack and The Undercover Recruiter.

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How to Include Volunteer Experience on Your Resume

• Include Volunteering on Your Resume

Related Volunteer Work

Unrelated volunteer work, volunteer resume example.

• Are You Looking to Volunteer?

Is it acceptable to include volunteer work on your resume when you're applying for jobs? Adding volunteering to your resume can help you get hired—especially when you don't have a lot of paid work experience to include.

Volunteer work can be an excellent way to  showcase key skills  such as event planning, fundraising, or problem-solving and can be integrated with your other paid work experiences or listed separately.

How to Include Volunteering on Your Resume

Including volunteer work on your resume is an especially important tactic for any of these reasons:

• You're a student without much (or any) formal work experience.
• You are a recent college graduate with limited professional experience.
• You're considering a career change to a different occupation or industry.
• You have taken a significant amount of time away from the workplace to raise young children or to care for a sick family member.
• You have experienced a lengthy period of unemployment due to a depressed economy in your state or region.

The goal is to incorporate your volunteer experience into your resume to highlight the skills that help qualify you for a job. The way to accomplish this will depend, to some degree, on how related your volunteer experience is to your career target. 

Related volunteer work can be combined with related work experience under a category heading like "Related Experience." If the volunteer work demonstrates a critical skill area, then it could be placed within a category with a functional heading like "Fundraising Experience" or "Event Planning Experience." 

In either case, the volunteer experience should be  listed just like a job  with a title that captures the essence of your role and a description that highlights  skills applied  and any accomplishments.

As you list your accomplishments, it is also a good idea to quantify these contributions with tangible numbers (dollar amounts) or percentages.

Here's an example:

Example of a Related Experience Section

Fundraising Experience

Volunteer Fundraiser , The United Way, Montclair, NJ, Fall 2019 to Present

• Recruited, coordinated, and trained 14 volunteer fundraisers.
• Planned and promoted three successful fundraising events, including a silent auction, dinner, and concert, which generated over $80,000 in pledges.
• Increased contributions by 25% over the previous campaign. 

If the volunteer work is unrelated to your job goal, you can incorporate it under a separate category like "Community Service" or "Volunteer Work." Most organizations look favorably upon staff who contribute in a positive way to the surrounding community—not only does it reflect well on the company, but volunteering can also be an opportunity for staff to network with potential new clients for the organization.

Here's an example of how to include volunteer work on your resume when it isn't directly related to your career or industry: 

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 organization’s presence and contributions. 

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

William Applicant 123 Main Street • New York, NY 10036 • (123) 456-7890 • william.applicant@email.com

WEBSITE MANAGEMENT

Building and maintaining websites that increase traffic and revenue Experienced web designer builds and maintains sites with professional and engaging content.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

TREMAINE AND MILLER COMMUNICATIONS, Sarasota, FL WEB EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE (January 2020—Present) Skillfully facilitate design and maintenance of company’s website.

Notable accomplishments:

• Within 12 months of hiring, increased daily website visits by 50%.
• Sourced third-party provider of images that lowered costs by 15%.

DOLAN ASSOCIATES, Sarasota, FL WEB ASSISTANT (June 2018—January 2020) Brought on board to optimize organization’s web presence and independently handled all website maintenance tasks, including content editing, photo editing, and publishing.

• Consistently completed web page development projects within challenging production deadlines.
• Incorporated Ad Sense program to website that triggered a 30% increase in site revenue.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

SARASOTA ROWING ASSOCIATION (January 2017—Present) Leverage professional expertise to design and maintain organization’s first-ever website.

RESCUE OUR STRAYS (July 2017—Present) Ensure quality creation and timely distribution of newsletter and email communications with staff, volunteers, and applicants; oversee and manage website.

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA , Gainesville, FL Bachelor of Arts in English literature, 2018

Are You Looking to Volunteer? 

Not only is volunteering good for your community, but it also has the potential to  benefit your career . A volunteer position can be a networking opportunity, help you sharpen your skills, and serve as a low-risk way to explore a new industry.

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10 tips to write an impressive resume

I n the highly competitive job market, a captivating resume serves as your golden ticket to leave a lasting impact on potential employers. With the evolution of more sophisticated hiring processes, it's imperative to transcend the fundamentals and compose a resume that distinguishes you from the masses. Here are 10 expert suggestions to guide you in creating an impressive resume that effectively showcases your skills and experiences:

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Customize your resume for each job

Tailoring your resume is paramount. Scrutinize the job description and align your resume with the specific prerequisites of each position you pursue. Spotlight the skills and experiences most pertinent to the job, underscoring your suitability for the role.

Commence with a robust summary or objective

Initiate your resume with a succinct and impactful summary or objective statement. This segment should offer a snapshot of your professional background, accentuating your key strengths and career objectives.

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Opt for a clean and professional format

Ensure your resume is visually appealing and easily digestible. Adopt a clean and professional format featuring consistent fonts and bullet points. Contemplate utilizing a contemporary template to impart a polished appearance to your resume.

Highlight achievements, not just responsibilities

Rather than merely cataloguing job duties, concentrate on quantifiable achievements. Illuminate specific accomplishments, employing metrics when feasible, to demonstrate your impact in prior roles.

Prioritize relevant experience

Position the most pertinent work experience prominently in your resume. Tailor the details of each job entry to underscore how your previous roles have equipped you for the specific position you are seeking.

Spotlight key skills

Devote a dedicated section to list both hard and soft skills relevant to the job. Integrate keywords from the job description to ensure your resume successfully navigates applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Integrate professional development and certifications

Manifest your commitment to continuous improvement by incorporating relevant professional development courses, certifications, or workshops. This signifies your dedication to staying abreast of developments in your field.

Quantify your achievements

Numbers carry weight. Whenever feasible, quantify your achievements to furnish tangible evidence of your impact. Whether it involves increasing sales, reducing costs, or enhancing efficiency, numerical figures bolster credibility.

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Showcase volunteer work and extracurricular activities

Infuse pertinent volunteer work and extracurricular activities to underscore your commitment to community involvement and your adeptness at managing diverse responsibilities.

Proofread and edited rigorously

A polished resume reflects your meticulous attention to detail. Scrutinize your document meticulously to catch any grammatical errors or typos. Enlist the input of peers or mentors for additional perspectives on refining your resume.

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