Expert-Driven Volunteer Resume Example Guide

What every volunteer resume needs to include is a strong list of professionally presented experience. Let’s take a look at how to do that.

When writing your volunteer experience section, remember that it's more important to show than just tell. Make each bullet point of your volunteer resume experience section count, mentioning the impact you had in your previous positions. Make sure every point comes together with a concrete example. So don’t just say you’re great at customer support, demonstrate it.

Another important part of your perfect experience section is to keeping it chronological. That means starting from the most recent position and continue further down. Also, never forget that you don't need to write every single position you've ever had. You know, like that waitressing job you did in college? Be mindful when choosing what you put in your volunteer resume. The key here is to include only what is important for the volunteering position you're interested in. And to find that, look through the job description in detail.

We compared 114, 000 resume examples and job offers and found that the average experience required for a volunteer job required by employers is 2 years. At the same time, the average amount of experience in a volunteer resume is above 3 years. That makes volunteers slightly overqualified. Make sure you tailor your volunteer resume to the job description and only leave the relevant experience in.

Who likes buzzwords? Nobody! The potential employer has surely read a thousand times someone writing responsibilities without concrete numbers to back it up. As a result, these resume skills that aren’t quantified largely get ignored or even count against you. Again, the solution is to focus on concrete numbers which demonstrate your impact as a volunteer professional rather than a bunch of buzzwords.

The competition in every job market is high. That's why you need to make your volunteer resume stand out with the right content. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems genuine and real, rather than a list of previous jobs. Include your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.

As a volunteer, the Most Proud Of section can help you show not only why you'd be a perfect fit for the company, but also your top strengths. You can share a point about overcoming hardship or learning an important life lesson. Either way, this is one of the best places to make your volunteer resume really stand out.

This guide shows the basics of writing a modern and effective Volunteer resume. We hope you find our techniques useful and will use them wisely when creating your resume. Let us know when you get the job you love!