Help Yourself With Volunteer Experience and Your Resume

Help Yourself With Volunteer Experience and Your ResumeResume Volunteer experience is an important way to prove that you can do a great job. But it is not the only way, or even the best way to prove yourself as a volunteer. Here are five tips to help you demonstrate your readiness for volunteering.Volunteers work in all sorts of ways and settings. Some work as paid staff, some work with a private foundation, some work for non-profit groups. In any case, they perform a wide variety of tasks in the service of others. What they are not, however, is disposable people who can be taken advantage of.The rewards of volunteer work are enormous, but the rewards of showing that you have not only done your share, but have done well are even greater. So you must show your capability and show you have done what it takes to do the job. Some employers ask for resume samples of previous jobs that demonstrate this. Others require volunteer experience in writing resumes. Here are five ways to demonstra te your ability to do the job.First, get a mentor who can help you in learning how to write the kind of resumes that will land you the jobs you want. Second, learn how to prepare a very good cover letter. Make sure it gets written by someone else and make sure it is focused on the job in hand. Last, make sure you understand the hiring process and that you have a strong connection to the organization. Lastly, learn how to deal with those not-so-patient bosses and with the stressful demands of the job itself.If you can't explain why you did your volunteer experience, chances are you can't talk about it. You have to let it show. Showing you were effective at what you did, demonstrated your versatility, and gave a boost to your resume will go a long way. It is also likely that you will be hired without even doing a face-to-face interview. A resume sample is not a substitute for hard work and eagerness to work.Another way to show you can do volunteer work is to follow up with those organ izations you worked for. Volunteer coordinators and staff members do not always take time to thank and acknowledge those who work to keep their work going. Contact the program coordinator at your program or school to see if they are planning on letting you know where you stand in terms of volunteer experience.Consider the impact a resume sample can have. An essay like this could be all you need to get an employer to take a second look at your application. By expressing your enthusiasm, demonstrating your competence, and showing your willingness to give back to the community, you'll get the necessary boost. At the very least, you may get a thank you call from someone that day. And it could be just the opening to getting the job.Finally, make sure you get good help to craft the most effective resume possible. It may be that you can write the content, but if you don't know how to market it, you're not going to get the kind of response you want. Good resume volunteers can make all the d ifference.