Volunteering is not just about giving back to the community. It’s also a great way to build your professional skills and advance your career.
Volunteering can help you:
- Learn more about an industry, sector or career path you’re interested in.
- Gain valuable work experience to add to your resume.
- Demonstrate your transferable skills, such as team work, time management, communication and problem solving.
- Meet new people and expand your professional network.
- Improve your self-esteem and confidence.
- Show employers that you care about your community.
How to showcase your volunteer experience when applying for jobs
You can showcase your volunteer experience to prospective employers by including it in your resume, cover letter and online profiles. You can also talk about volunteering during an interview if the experience is relevant to the role.
On your resume, treat a volunteer position the same way you would a regular position. Include the organisation name, position titles, dates, a brief description and your achievements. LinkedIn also allows you to present your volunteering experience similarly to how you showcase your paid work history and qualifications on the site.
You can include volunteering with your work experience or in a separate section called ‘Other relevant experience’ or ‘Volunteer experience', depending on your personal preference. Alternatively, you can mention volunteer work briefly in your summary or skills section, if you have limited space.
In applications and interviews, communicate your volunteer experience clearly and concisely to highlight the transferable skills that you gained, in relation to the job you’re applying for.
Want to start volunteering?
There are a huge range of volunteering opportunities in the community which can be short-term, long-term or one-off events.
GoVolunteer provides a national database of volunteering opportunities for you to explore.
Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) is a veteran-led disaster relief non-profit organisation. DRA unites the skills and experience of veterans with first responders and civilian volunteers to aid disaster recovery operations around the world.
The Seek Volunteer portal advertises volunteer opportunities by category, type, and location, and includes online and remote opportunities.
For volunteer opportunities in each state and territory visit: