When someone asks you about your work experience, chances are you’ll start talking about the job that provides a paycheck. You probably don’t even think about the unpaid work you do – volunteering. For many of us that volunteer work often requires a lot of expertise, time and energy. Doesn’t it? Just like our “paid” work. And you should include it in your LinkedIn profile!
Between September 2014 and September 2015, 62.6 million people volunteered in the United States. That’s almost 25% of our population. (This is the last time period the US Bureau of Labor Statistics studied). A few more fun facts:
23.3% of unemployed people volunteered
21.4% of those out of work force entirely volunteered
That means for many people who did not have jobs, their volunteering WAS their job.
Around that time, LinkedIn released a study that said 41% of all hiring managers considered volunteer work experience as important as paid work experience.
Based on that information, does volunteer work count? Should it be listed on your LinkedIn profile? ABSOLUTELY!
There are lots of places to list it; Volunteer section, Organizations section and as a Work Experience. But how do you know which section is the best place to put it?
There are few things to take into consideration. When did you volunteer? Was it one time this year or multiple times? Was it project based? Did it take a lot of time? What did you do? Were you in a support role or leadership role? What type of organization was it? Political or religious, charity or community based? Is it relevant to your past, current or future work? Did you volunteer to fill a gap in employment?
Here’s a big one…can you get endorsements or recommendations that will help your career from the volunteer work?
The word “volunteer” implies unpaid, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t work. A few years ago, I was the Volunteer Coordinator for an organization that had two (2) all-day events in the same calendar year. There were some weeks leading up to each of the events that I worked 40+ hours. During that time, I was unemployed and working on starting my business. This volunteer work is now listed as a Past Experience on my LinkedIn profile. Here’s why:
- It lasted about a calendar year and I spent over 300 hours doing it.
- I was managing people – lots of people – over 600 total.
- I was a key leader.
- I created procedures and processes.
- I was able to write a job description of what I did.
- I was able to ask for and get LinkedIn recommendations from people who I led (volunteers) and the other key organizers. And, I’ve been able to GIVE recommendations to people who have listed theirs.
For these reasons, I have also listed my unpaid Board of Director and executive level volunteer positions as Work Experiences.
I also coached children sports. Those took a lot of time and energy and met many of the criteria listed above, but they were a very long time ago and not as relevant to my existing business life. If something would change with my career, I would not hesitate to add them in.
No two volunteer gigs are the same though. Think about it. Have you been a speaker, on-going registration table helper, phone bank worker, blood drive captain, Lego Team coach, concession stand captain, PTO treasurer, Sunday school teacher or anything else. You might want to list them on your profile. I know a number of women who are part of a leadership team for an organization I belong to. They put in lots of hours looking for speakers, organizing the meetings and much more. They should definitely be included on their profiles.
Where can you list your volunteer work?
Include it in your Summary if you want to bring attention to it. Mention it here if it’s part of your story that lead to a career transition, something you’re doing while you’re unemployed or if it shows new skill development. Be brief because you have other important things to talk about in this section.
Definitely list it in the Volunteer section, even if you’ve listed it in other places. Some people may focus on the volunteer section as a way to get to know you better. There is room in the volunteer section to describe what you did. Keywords in this section help with search so use them. Don’t use the exact wording from your Experience section though.
The Project section is another good place, if the work could be considered a project. Again, you can add a keyword-counting description. And, as an added bonus, you can list team members that worked with. This comes in handy for networking and referrals.
If your volunteer work is for a structured group or club, think about listing it in the Organizations section. Sometimes your volunteer work is a one-and-done, like a Saturday river cleanup. This is still a great way to show you are civic minded.
If by chance, you receive recognition for volunteering, be sure to list it in the Awards & Honors section.
Final thoughts
Many of us have been volunteering for years. You don’t need to go crazy and list every single thing you’ve done. Pick the ones that most meaningful to you and that will also help you get noticed.
You never know what doors this may open for you in the future. You might be asked to sit on a Board of Directors or you might be asked to be Chair of a committee or name Person of the Year because all of your work is visible.
People do business with people they know, like and trust. People want to get to know about the WHOLE you, not just the “paid employee” you.
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