[FAQ]

Hi,
I’m a recent graduate and I’m working on building out my LinkedIn profile to make it as strong as possible for my job search. I don’t have a ton of formal internship experience, but I have done a lot of volunteer work with a few non-profits during my time at university.

My question is, how much do recruiters and hiring managers actually value the ‘Volunteer Experience’ section? Is it just seen as a nice-to-have, or can it genuinely make up for a lack of paid work experience?

I want to make sure I’m writing the descriptions for my volunteer roles in the most effective way. Any advice on how to frame this experience to really catch a recruiter’s eye would be a huge help.

Thanks!

[Jeff Bullas]

That’s a smart area to focus on, as it’s one of the most underutilised sections of a profile.

Short Answer: You leverage it by treating it exactly like a professional role. Detail your accomplishments and quantify your impact to showcase real-world skills and personal character.

The key is to see each volunteer entry as a powerful piece of text-based content that tells a story about your values and capabilities.

The most common mistake is simply listing an organisation with no detail, which has zero impact. First, you must describe your accomplishments, not just your responsibilities, using the same action-oriented language as your main experience section. Second, this section is perfect for demonstrating skills you may not have had a chance to showcase in a paid role. The text you write about managing a fundraising campaign for a non-profit is tangible proof of your project management abilities. Third, to give your best volunteer work more visibility, you should create a separate piece of content about it. Write a short text post about a key lesson you learned from the experience and pair it with a powerful image. This content format brings the experience to life in a way that a simple profile entry cannot.

Cheers,

Jeff

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