How can you include volunteer experience on your resume without it looking like filler? (2025)

Since when did the resume police decide that volunteer work has to be "relevant" or "aligned?" So are you going to reject a marketing candidate because their volunteer experience included rebuilding a community devastated by a disaster? This demonstrates grit, endurance, hard work and commitment to a greater cause. It demonstrates character. I'll hire that over a 10 hour social media volunteer gig any day.Enough with alignment. That's human judgement stuff. And why they can't find great talent just waiting outside their locked drawbridges.We've got to stop the judgement and look at people as whole human beings.Oh BTW - Side hustle work - running your own website design business - gets you extra credit.

Write about your volunteer experience the same way you would write about your employment experience, using CARB statements: Challenge, Action, Results, Benefits. The most important thing is that your write-up helps the prospective employer to envision the benefits you would bring to their company.

If you had a unique volunteer experience that was not necessarily relevant to the job you are applying for, you can still include the volunteer experience on a resume.Instead of listing it under “Work Experience”, create a new section for “Volunteer Experience”. Many employers still like to see volunteering experience on a resume. It shows you are a compassionate and well-rounded individual.If the volunteering isn’t related to the job, you don’t have to go into as much detail. Just include bullet points that list the most important things you did and learned. If you gained any language skills abroad, include that as well!

I feel that volunteering can be an underestimated aspect of peoples' career journeys, and one that can shine a light on how an individual connects with community groups etc. I would aim to treat any volunteer roles as if they were paid positions, and align key skills, deliverables / outcomes with those of paid roles. Ensure that the role is noted as a Volunteer position, and these experiences can also add another layer to other roles. Finally, can someone from the organisation act as a referee? This again adds value to the listing of volunteer roles.

Great resumes tell a story - about who you are, your strengths, and the impact you’ve made throughout your career. Including volunteer work on a resume lends credibility. It shows what you care about and value when you’re not getting paid. Volunteer work can: show leadership capabilities, serve as management experience, help you make a career pivot, or build a connection with the hiring team.

Adding volunteer work on a resume is not a filler. It demonstrates your enthusiasm to learn and contribute to your community. Your quantitative/ qualitative achievements are the results of that enthusiasm.

Volunteer experience can be a great addition to your resume. You can either highlight your volunteer experience in the summary section or after your education at the back of the resume. Be sure to include your title and any key accomplishments you achieved while in role.

Voluntary experience is not just a filler. As you have an objective to achieve and also deliver something meaningful and good. So highlight the best things that you have done and how they impacted for the societal good.

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A candidate has 3 to 7 seconds to capture their very busy hiring manager’s attention. That’s not a lot of time to study graphs and numbers. Although I wish hiring managers would take more time to study a candidate’s resume, most don’t. So if a candidate really wants to highlight results from their volunteer work, include them in the “Highlights” portion of your resume and organize the thoughts, numbers, results, etc. by bullet points. It’s much easier to read and gives the hiring manager the snippet they need to peak their interest and to ask you more questions during an interview. If the candidate simply wants to show off their volunteer work, then again add a “Community Involvement” portion on the resume. Definitely worth adding.

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I agree but often applicants tacktheir volunteer experience to the end of their resume instead of using it to bolster their skills and attributes in the body of their resume by describing in quantifiable detail what they did,how and what significant results or outcomes did they achieve that might benefit a prospective employer or themselves in their work tasks. When writing a hybrid (combination) resume, this is very easy to do if described under a relevant heading that highlights the skills the employer is looking for. Any volunteer experience could be relevant if marketed appropriately.

Volunteer experience should be submitted on a resume in the same format as a paying job. Provide information on your responsibilities, duties, accomplishments and how you enhanced the program. This is another opportunity to showcase your organizational and leadership skills. I have never thought that volunteerism would be "filler" only.

In addition to using action verbs and keywords, I also recommend including numbers to tell the story of what you did as a volunteer. For example: 2x per week, 12 hour shifts, helped 100 people, fundraised $10,000, etc. Even if you don't have numbers around the result of what you did, you can share details around the process and HOW you did the work which is valuable on a resume.

Use the World of Outcome. This will help a lot as they prompt the recruiter to review with interest. Key words related to Job and the company as such would be of help.

As you would be tailoring a resume with action words, you must treat the volunteer work the same way. Also, speaking of the experience from an accomplishment perspective can help you. What were you recognized for in the organization? What unique niche do you hold in that role or something you contributed to? This can assist with career transition or if there was a break if you are treating it with the same language as a role.

Including keywords is important for a number of reasons, but the main one being that it will help demonstrate the relevance of your skills and experience while also improving your ability to catch the attention of the recruiter or hiring manager. Strong action verbs are also important because they can help you take ownership of the responsibilities you held and the accomplishments you achieved. Always avoid using "Responsible for..." because it just ends up sounding like you're actually saying "I wouldn't have done this if they didn't make me do it..."

Why do we need to distinguish volunteer work from work experience? To me, I put it under the heading "Professional Experience," as long as the volunteer work is relevant for the job that you're targeting, it counts as experience, especially since we're in a skills-based hiring environment.

Incorporating volunteer experience in your resume not only aligns with employer values but also showcases your time management and prioritization skills. Highlight specific achievements gained to demonstrate its job relevance. Use action verbs to describe volunteer roles, focusing on accomplishments. If extensive, a dedicated "Volunteer Experience" section can emphasize your professional contributions.

Volunteer work is not "filler". Most non-profits/charities could not survive without volunteers, they are the backbone of operations. I would advise clients to showcase this experience just as they would any other that's paid.

An example of this could be adding volunteer experience under a “relevant experience” section and writing each volunteer position just as you would a job. This means, using power verbs, highlighting accomplishments and the value you added to the position. Ensuring you focus on transferrable skills is key!

One practice I've found helpful is identifying your volunteer experience as "Community Leadership" on your resume. Generally, volunteer work involves some kind of leadership efforts. Whether you led a campaign or donation drive, organized an event, or led a project for the organization, it may support your overall leadership narrative within your resume.

Adding volunteer work could help to bridge the gaps in your work experience.Sometimes people with more technical backgrounds might not have much customer facing experience, volunteer projects could help to support this. The same goes for people with less technical backgrounds trying to get into roles that require more experience with certain software tools/ platforms. Volunteer experience could help to detail your skill sets that you didn’t get a chance to describe due to your background.

Volunteer work is not a filler. It can be a very meaningful component and differentiator when being reviewed as a candidate.What does volunteer work show a potential employer? Many soft and hard skills.However, I tend to leave out sports coaching volunteer work unless the team has won a high profile trophy, division or tournament.Also, and I shouldn't have to say this but sadly we are still in a discriminatory world. So leave religious and political volunteer work off unless you are applying to work in a religious or political organization.Show the volunteer work the same as a work appointment and if there is an accomplishment, articulate the achievement.

Showing volunteer work is great when it makes sense to the job. I know, I know, throw rotten tomatoes at me if you'd like. But you have to remember that looking for a job in Corpo America is not a college application. They aren't looking for who spent the most time as a museum docent (unless that's what you are applying to do). They want to see how you are qualified for the job they've posted. Period. Include your volunteer work on the resume if it is relevant to do so.

Customizing your resume for each application is unrealistic for the average candidate. Who really has the time. As a candidate you will have more success clearly identifying the type of role you want to work in before starting the application process and then customizing your resume. Highlight certain skills and experience over others when actively applying for that specific type of role in your resume. Prepare customized cover letters to summarize your work history allowing you to succinctly draw attention to the experience that best applies to the job you are hoping to land.

Treat your volunteer experience as professional experience. Even though you were not paid for your volunteer work, it still counts as valuable experience. Include it in the same section of your resume as your paid work experience and treat it with the same level of detail and professionalism.

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Introduce and replace 'Volunteer Work' with a section header titled 'Community Service' in the same format/presentation as paid professional experience. List your title and designate as 'pro bono' versus 'volunteer'. Semantics are everything on a resume; how you word/present Community Service conveys the value you place on that professional experience. Community Service instills interest in you as a candidate, gives insight into how you 'fit' in the work world. Simply stated: you care, value others, like to be engaged, reach out beyond your professional horizons. Companies that value Community Service and offer paid 'sabbaticals' as a benefit/perk: Adobe, Google, Intel, AARP, Instacart, Microsoft, Blue Shield, etc. Not at all 'filler'.

Volunteering experience speaks louder about your behavior & values. It is not only about humility and resilience, but we can also reflect our awareness & concerns on what is happening in the world nowadays. For example, we should explore more program related to environmental and social equality as the world moving towards sustainability.

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Overall, be strategic about the experiences you cite on your resume that are unpaid. You don’t want to mislead managers. The “experience” section of your resume demonstrates your ability to work on a team, advance a mission, and your aptitude for addressing and solving problems, whether paid or not.The transferable skills and abilities developed while volunteering also makes for memorable storytelling in cover letters and during interviews. I recommend balancing one unpaid experience, like non-profit marketing committee, by citing an unexpected conversation starter, like Youth Ski Instructor, in a section called “causes” or “philanthropy.” Don’t forget, you’re trying to show that you fit into a culture, not just a job.

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First and foremost, designate 'Volunteer Experience' as 'Community Service' as a section title. Doing so increases the perceived value of your work by the reader. Use the phrase, 'pro bono' with your 'job title'; EX: Director of Volunteers, pro bono. Be selective and creative in your presentation so as to capture the interest of the reader.