How much ‘clout’ does volunteer work have in a resume? For example, would 1 year of volunteer work carry more or less clout than 1 year of paid work experience in the same field?
Could mentioning volunteer work be counterproductive? Maybe implying to your employer that you would be willing to work for less?
What kind of volunteer work do you mean (in terms of hours per week, level of responsibility, etc.)? If it’s the equivalent of an unpaid internship type deal I would think it is perfectly legitimate to put on your resume. Be ready to talk about why you pursued that vs. a paid job (only way to get experience in the field, etc.); it shouldn’t imply that you will settle for less, but rather that you wanted the opportunity you went for. Now you are hoping to build on that experience in a paid position.
There are full-time volunteer programs that provide room and board while you work a “real” job and these are certainly fine to list on a resume. I know I have a few such experiences on mine; they have job titles and responsibilities attached and are equivalent to a paying job.
It depends on the type of volunteer service, the length of time, etc. Serving on the board of a non-profit agency for two years carries a bit more weight than handing out hot meals in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. How does your volunteer service assist you professionally? Are you in a postition of power, supervision of staff, in charge of fundraising?
I would say to include it ONLY if your volunteering is related to your professional life, if it’s a position of power (board member, chair committee, supervising the weekend staff, etc.) and only if it’s at least a year in time length. Even then, I’d list it under miscellaneous, and not with the “usual” job positions.
The other time it can be relevant/helpful is for SAHMs or others who are out of the workforce for a while for whatever reason. Even here, however, you want to emphasize assignments that reflect creativity, competence, initiative, etc., and not just the “warm body” thing of showing up and ladling stew.
I would give consideration to any significant volunteer work that demonstrated specific skills. For example (since I’m in IT), I’d be impressed with the fact that you designed, implemented and support a networking solution for a local charity on your own time. Or that you supervised a volunteer staff of 12 with Organization X. Otherwise, if it’s not relevant, don’t list it.
Another vote for the relevance factor. I write resumes part-time (hopefully full-time soon), and if it has nothing to do with the career you’re trying to pursue, I cut it. One thing I’ve learned is that employers don’t really give a crap about your extracurricular activities unless they have something to do with the work you’re trying to get.
Your resume needs to be streamlined so that when a potential employer looks at it, they are able to pick out the skills that you have that are suited the position. If you have a bunch of extraneous stuff in there, it’ll just be more crap for them to wade through.
Ava
Since I work in an organization that utilizes volunteers, volunteer work on resume definitely counts for a lot. I am not, however, as well informed about organizations that don’t have volunteers.
While I know nobody posting yet is in this position, it can’t hurt to mention for lurking teenagers that volunteer work is a great thing to put on your resume, even if it’s ladling grog at the soup kitchen, if you have little or no paid employment history. Anything that indicates you can show up and work is to your advantage, and you shouldn’t not list it because you didn’t get paid for it if otherwise your application/resume is scanty.
“Relevance,” might not be exactly the right term to use. The purpose of your resume is to sell yourself to a potential employer. Thus, the question to ask isn’t, “is this work experience (or whatever) relevant?”; the question is “does this work experience give a potential employer a reason to hire me?”
So for an IT professional with 10 years experience, volunteer work at a soup kitchen probably doesn’t hive the employer a reason to hire him or her, so the resume would be better off without listing the volunteer experience.
If, on the other hand, the IT professional with 10 years experience was applying with, say, the Red Cross, listing the volunteer work might tell the Red Cross that the applicant is serious about charity and volunteer work, and might be a better fit for the organization than another person would be.
And for a teenager with no other work experience, listing volunteer work might tell a potential employer that the applicant can responsibly hold down a position and report to work on time.
And for the person applying to be a lunch lady at the local elementary school, the volunteer experience in the soup line might very well be relevant work experience.
But I think listing it at all comes down to the question “Does this work experience give the employer a specific reason to hire me?”