How to Include Volunteer Work In Your Cover Letter and Resume: Guidelines for Including Volunteer Work

The volunteer work you do may be the deciding factor that determines whether you are hired, so including this information on your cover letter, as well as in your resume may be more important than your realize.

According to serviceleader.org, “one way to capture the interest of an employer is to show that you are an involved citizen - someone who works to make the community a better place to live.”

How to include volunteer work on our cover letter and resume may appear problematic, but it is relatively easy to do, particularly when you create a section that you refer to as volunteer work. 

Consider the following guidelines.

Your cover letter should give your potential employer an immediate glimpse into your professional, as well as your personal life. Your academic background, employment experience including your previous skills and training, are things your employer needs to know initially, but he or she will also want to learn about you personally and your life in the community. 

In other words, what kind of a person are you? Including your previous or current volunteer work experience will enable him or her to understand your suitability for employment, as well as your personal interests. When you write your cover letter, the information you include should be brief and to the point with respect to what you do for your community.

Further elaboration with respect to what your volunteer work entails usually goes in your resume.

Here, you may include dates, as well as your responsibilities as a volunteer. Examples of positive responses you have received from your volunteer work may prove beneficial in terms of being hired. When your potential employer reads your cover letter, he or she may request more information related to your volunteer work. If you already have that additional information in your resume, this will enable him or her to learn more about your unique talents, gifts and your ability to relate to others.

How you relate to others is important.

Your volunteer work shows a potential employer how others will likely relate to you as a unique individual. He or she may want to know in what capacity you served as a volunteer. Are you currently involved? For example, is it as a leader, a public representative or perhaps a fundraiser with respect to community service?

He or she may want to know what you have learned, gained or experienced as a volunteer, particularly the kinds of things that prove beneficial in respect to hiring you.

Remember that there is no right or wrong way to include volunteer work in your cover letter or resume, but keeping it in proper perspective is important. Your priority should be obtaining possible employment, although your employer may be interested in making valuable contributions that enhance your volunteer work in the future.