Adding skills to your resume through volunteer work

We’re working different schedules due to the pandemic and there’s a good chance that things won’t go back to normal anytime soon. In some ways, you might feel like you have more responsibilities than ever—especially if you’re working full time and taking care of your kids full time. For others, especially those who are furloughed, you might have some time to branch out and try new things.

Filling in experience gaps

Now might be the perfect time to gain new experiences to strengthen your resume. I already listed sites for online education. But what about practical, hands-on experience? For that, one of the best avenues is volunteer work.

First, decide what skills you want to add. Read job listings to identify the skills you might need. What skills are you missing from the jobs you want to apply for? Focus on building those skills first.

Finding the right opportunities

Providing help to nonprofits isn’t always as easy as you think it will be. Organizations need help, but it might not be the type of help that will build your resume. Or, they might want to see your skills and commitment before they hand over an important piece of work. Finally, they might absolutely need your skills but nonprofits are often so busy, they don’t have the time to manage volunteers or the budget to support the work you want to do. In spite of these challenges, there are still ways to get involved.

Follow your passion

Finding a nonprofit that aligns with your beliefs and passion to help others is the best way to be energized and engaged with the work that needs to be done. In the midst of this pandemic, the pull on nonprofits’ resources, monetary and voluntary, has increased. Look for volunteer opportunities that fulfill a need for others while supporting your growth.

If you’re already volunteering at a nonprofit, now might be the time to step up your commitment. Talk to a volunteer coordinator or leader for other volunteer opportunities. Create a proposal for the work you could do for them, complete with goals, strategic plan, and potential needs from staff or other volunteers. If your plan requires funding, include how YOU will raise funds for the project. Don’t turn to a nonprofit with your “perfect” idea and then ask them for precious donated dollars.

Skills-Based Volunteering

There are several nonprofits organizations that connect nonprofit organizations to volunteers who have the skills to help them. There are many benefits to working through these organizations:

• The volunteer opportunities are only focused on skills-based, pro bono work. These are opportunities for quality volunteer support.

• The organizations are already vetted and the opportunities are already scoped out. The nonprofit has a clear expectation for what needs to be delivered and the timeframe.

• Connecting to one organization can give you access to many nonprofit organizations and a wide range of opportunities.

There are a growing number of organizations to work with including Taproot Foundation, Catchafire, Common Impact, just to name a few. Many of these opportunities are even listed as volunteer jobs on LinkedIn.

Highlighting Volunteer Work on Your Resume

How you highlight the experience gained through volunteer work will depend on your goals, skills gained, and other work experience on your resume. It’s important to highlight the experience to optimize the skills and experience you gained, without detracting from your valuable work experience. You’ll need to consider:

• Whether you need a chronological, functional, or combination resume

• How much prominence your volunteer experience needs in comparison to work experience

• Skills gained in relation to your goals

LinkedIn Profile

Even if you don’t have room on your resume, include relevant volunteer experience in your LinkedIn profile. Again, how much prominence you give the experience will depend on the your other experience and goals.

More than using volunteer work to gain skills, consider volunteerism to be an important way of giving back to your community. That in itself is a reason to get involved.