How to Include Volunteer Experience on LinkedIn

Volunteer work is an integral part of many people’s professional lives. It not only provides an opportunity to become involved in meaningful projects and causes close to your heart, but also can be a valuable addition to your résumé and LinkedIn profile. In this article, we will explore the various ways to include volunteer experience on LinkedIn. You will learn how to maximize the visibility of your contributions and ensure that your volunteer activities make a lasting impression on your prospective employers and colleagues.

I. Overview of Including Volunteer Experience on LinkedIn

Exploration of volunteering experience enhances your resume. It can add breadth to a profile and increase your reputation in the professional community. Including information about volunteer roles makes your profile more comprehensive, and helps demonstrate your abilities, special skills and associated impact.

When creating a professional profile, volunteer experience offers unique perspective. If the opportunity is relevant to your current or future job applications, it is important to highlight it on your profile. Focus on mentioning how volunteering has helped you develop key skills applicable in the workplace. Also, list the accomplishments and impacts you have had due to volunteer work.

When including volunteer roles on your profile, list them separately from roles with a formal employer. The following are some elements that should be presented for each volunteer experience entry:

  • Title – describe the volunteer opportunity
  • Organization – institution or cause you volunteered to support
  • Dates – include date range of the experience
  • Location – provide city/location details
  • Description – explain the charitable or expert assistance you provided, and list the key achievements

II. Benefits of Including Volunteer Experience on LinkedIn

A Key Component to an Impressive Profile

Volunteer experience can be a significant asset to include on a LinkedIn profile. In fact, it can become a key component to creating an impressive and diversified profile. Volunteering has the potential to demonstrate one’s abilities, interests, and a sense of responsibility. It serves to add an element of credibility that is worth noting.

By including volunteer experience on LinkedIn, an individual is able to demonstrate:

  • Relevant skills learned from volunteering
  • Connections made with other volunteers, managers, or staff
  • Projects in which they have acted as a leader or team member
  • The values they uphold and willingly support

These important skills and affiliations can also be backed up with recommendations, if available. Overall, volunteer experience is just one of the many opportunities to enhance a person’s profile and stand out among the competition.

III. Tips for Incorporating Volunteer Experience on LinkedIn

Include volunteer experience in summary

Volunteering can be one of your most impactful experiences and it is important to showcase it in a prominent way. Incorporate your volunteer assignments as part of your “summary” and explain how these activities have helped you develop and gain new skills, knowledge and capabilities. Additionally, provide details on your particular tasks and responsibilities and explain how you achieved organizational goals.

Specify volunteer activities

Make sure to provide a clear description of your volunteer activities on LinkedIn. You should list the organizations you volunteered for, the duration of your assignments, your main duties and the impact or outcome you achieved. To achieve greater visibility, add projects, publications, skills and even courses related to your volunteer activities if they are not already included in the profile.

Invite endorsers

Make sure to include volunteers, colleagues and supervisors from the organizations for which you volunteered. Ask for recommendations and endorsements. They will provide further evidence of your successes and will make your profile more authoritative and credible. Additionally, endorsing other people for their volunteer activities on LinkedIn can create powerful connections and help create a good reputation and personal brand on the platform.

IV. Describing Volunteer Experiences on LinkedIn

Volunteer experiences are valuable additions to a LinkedIn profile, showing a potential employer that you have a range of non-employment related skills and abilities. When crafting descriptions for such contributions, consider these tips:

  • Be Specific about Skills Used: Describe the tangible skills you put to use in a volunteer role, such as fundraising or event planning.
  • Highlight Accomplishments: Demonstrate the impact of the work you did and explain why the cause was important to you.
  • Connect the Role to Your Career: Explain how the experience translates to the professional skills you will bring as a job seeker.

Including a volunteer experience on LinkedIn is a great way to show potential employers a different side of you. Crafting an effective description of the role requires thought and precision, as it should explain why the experience was meaningful to you but also be specific about the skills used in the role and how they apply to your current career goals.

It is also important to highlight the accomplishments made in the volunteer role and explaining the impact of your contributions. Organisations want to know they can rely on you to make a difference and quantifying achievements is a great way to do this.

V. Final Thoughts on Including Volunteer Experience on LinkedIn

Develop Professional Connections
Connecting with other professionals through volunteering is a fantastic way to expand your network. You can use LinkedIn to pursue and connect with individuals with the same interests and passions as yours. Look for opportunities to share stories from your volunteering experience to those within your network. This is only one way you can use your volunteering to draw attention to your skills and abilities.

Gain New Skills
Volunteering comes with a variety of new challenges and opportunities to enhance your existing skills. Areas like problem-solving, time management, and communication can all be augmented when volunteering. Think of scenarios where you’ve been able to give tangible results and highlight it on your LinkedIn profile, as it speaks to employers

Demonstrate Your Commitment
Volunteering is a great way to show potential employers your dedication to the cause. By using LinkedIn to promote your volunteering efforts, you can spread awareness, demonstrate your commitment and expertise, and provide a more holistic view of who you are. This will also help you stand out from the competition when job hunting.

Other valuable benefits of including volunteer experience on your LinkedIn profile include:

  • Highlighting your passion and mission
  • Emphasizing non-paid roles
  • Allowing yourself to diversify your portfolio

Volunteer experience can add a great deal of diversity to your profile and provide potential employers with additional insight into your work history. Taking the necessary steps to ensure that your volunteer experience is included on LinkedIn will further increase your chances of being noticed and considered for the job you are seeking. Remember, when it comes to creating your online profile, knowledge is power!

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