How To List Volunteer Experience on a Resume
- Why Volunteer Experience Matters on a Resume
- When To Include Volunteer Experience
- Where To Add Volunteer Experience
- How To Write About Volunteer Work Effectively
- How Volunteer Experience Supports Career Transitions
- How Students and Entry-Level Job Seekers Can Benefit
- Formatting Tips for Volunteer Experience
- Key takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Topic
Volunteer experience can be a powerful addition to your resume, especially if you’re changing careers, entering the workforce, or have limited professional experience. It shows initiative, a commitment to your community, and the development of real-world skills that employers value. Whether you’ve organized events, supported nonprofit programs, or helped out at your local shelter, this experience can help tell your story and strengthen your qualifications when applied strategically.
Why Volunteer Experience Matters on a Resume
Volunteer experience tells a story beyond your job history. It can reflect personal values, leadership potential, and a willingness to contribute without expectation. In roles where paid experience is lacking, or even in addition to it, volunteering can help you stand out.
Including volunteer work also helps show consistency in your professional development. It fills in time gaps, highlights relevant skills, and may connect closely with the roles you’re applying for. Many employers value initiative and commitment, which are strongly demonstrated through unpaid work.
When To Include Volunteer Experience
Volunteer experience belongs on your resume when it’s:
- Relevant to the role you’re applying for
- A substitute for limited work experience
- An opportunity to showcase leadership, project management, or technical skills
- A way to explain employment gaps
- A complement to your paid professional experience
If the volunteer work is unrelated or from many years ago, it may be better to leave it off unless it adds meaningful context to your background or helps shape your personal brand.
Where To Add Volunteer Experience
Add it to your professional experience section
If your volunteer role involved relevant responsibilities or transferable skills, list it under your professional experience. Treat it like a paid job using the same formatting and focus on measurable achievements. Be transparent by including “Volunteer” in the job title or description.
Examples:
Fundraising Coordinator (Volunteer)
Habitat for Humanity, Boston, MA | January 2023 to present
- Led fundraising events that raised over $10,000 for local housing projects
- Designed digital marketing campaigns to promote donor outreach
- Recruited and coordinated 25 volunteers for community builds
Community Outreach Coordinator (Volunteer)
Food for All Coalition, Seattle, WA | March 2022 to present
- Organized monthly food distribution events serving over 500 community members
- Developed volunteer training materials that improved onboarding efficiency by 40%
- Secured local sponsorships totaling $7,500 through outreach and partnership development
- Coordinated a team of 20+ volunteers to ensure smooth event logistics and safety protocols
Create a separate “Volunteer Experience” section
If you’ve held several volunteer roles or they aren’t closely tied to your career field, consider creating a dedicated section below your professional experience. This keeps the structure clear and allows you to highlight your commitment and community involvement.
Example header:
Volunteer Experience
How To Write About Volunteer Work Effectively
Use strong action verbs and measurable results
Like your job experience, volunteer bullet points should focus on outcomes. Start each bullet point with an action verb and include numbers, percentages, or results where possible.
Examples:
- “Managed social media for a local nonprofit, growing engagement by 60% in six months”
- “Tutored 15+ middle school students weekly in math and reading, improving average test scores by 20%”
Tailor it to each job application
Align your volunteer experience with the job you’re applying for. If the role requires communication, leadership, or data management, and you’ve done these as a volunteer, emphasize them. Match keywords from the job description to ensure your resume gets noticed by applicant tracking systems (ATS).
How Volunteer Experience Supports Career Transitions
Changing careers often means starting from limited direct experience in your new field. Volunteer work can bridge that gap by giving you hands-on opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed for the transition. It also shows employers that you’re proactive, motivated, and serious about shifting, not just hoping to get hired without relevant qualifications.
Volunteering provides a safe and supportive environment to experiment with new roles and responsibilities. You can build real-world experience that complements any formal education or training you may be pursuing. Plus, it creates meaningful content for your resume, LinkedIn profile, and future interviews.
Here are a few examples of how to use volunteer experience to support a career pivot:
- Aspiring project manager: Volunteer to coordinate fundraising events or community outreach initiatives for a nonprofit. Take charge of planning timelines, managing volunteers, and tracking budgets. Next, showcase those results on your resume as project leadership.
- Transitioning into education: Assist as a volunteer tutor at a local school, library, or youth program. This experience allows you to build instructional skills, classroom management, and curriculum support that are valuable for teaching, training, or academic advising roles.
- Switching to tech: Build or maintain websites for nonprofit organizations or local businesses. You could volunteer for tech support roles, help with data management, or assist with setting up digital tools, demonstrating your technical skills and problem-solving abilities.
- Exploring health care: Volunteer at a hospital, clinic, or health-focused nonprofit to gain environmental exposure and understand patient interaction. Even roles in reception, scheduling, or patient support offer transferable skills for administrative or clinical careers.
- Breaking into marketing or communications: Help promote events, manage social media, or design flyers for a community group. These tasks allow you to build a content portfolio, practice strategic messaging, and develop basic marketing tools, which are great for proving yourself in a new industry.
These experiences don’t just fill your resume, but they tell a story. They show you’re taking steps to learn, contribute, and grow. Hiring managers pay attention to this initiative, especially when clear, measurable results and a genuine commitment to the work back it up.
Volunteering also helps you expand your network. People you meet in these roles may be connected to the field you’re trying to enter. A recommendation or referral from someone who’s seen your work ethic can be as powerful as years of paid experience.
Volunteer work is one of the most innovative tools career changers can use. It builds your resume, boosts your confidence, and helps you clarify what kind of work you enjoy and excel at.
How Students and Entry-Level Job Seekers Can Benefit
For students, new graduates, or anyone early in their career, volunteer experience can be more than filler. It’s often where real skill-building begins. Excellent examples of teamwork, leadership, communication, and initiative include:
- Organized a student club fundraiser
- Volunteered as a camp counselor
- Supported community health outreach programs
Describe what you did, how often, and the impact you had. Even if it seems small, it shows effort and responsibility, qualities every employer values.
Formatting Tips for Volunteer Experience
- Job title (Volunteer), Organization name, City, State
- Dates of service (month/year – month/year) or to present
- Three to five bullet points summarizing accomplishments and skills
- Use consistent formatting so your resume reads smoothly
- Avoid vague descriptions like “helped out” or “assisted”— be specific
Key takeaways
- Volunteer work can show leadership, teamwork, and dedication, especially if you’re light on paid experience
- List it in your main experience section if it’s relevant, or create a separate volunteer section if it’s not directly related
- Treat it like paid work: use action verbs, quantify impact, and tailor it to each job application
Frequently Asked Questions About the Topic
Yes, especially if it shows valuable skills or fills employment gaps. Even if the content doesn’t align exactly, volunteer work can reflect leadership, reliability, and character. Just be sure it adds value to your overall profile.
Be transparent by including “(Volunteer)” after the job title or within the description. Example: Marketing Assistant (Volunteer). This avoids confusion and still allows you to highlight the scope of your responsibilities.
That’s fine, especially if you’re a student, recent graduate, or changing careers. Format your volunteer work just like paid experience, and focus on accomplishments. Employers care about what you’ve done and how well you did it, not just whether you were paid.
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