You should list volunteer experience in a resume in the same way you would list your paid work experience.

The Volunteer Work section of your resume can also have the following titles:

• Community
• Community Activities
• Community Affairs
• Community Involvement
• Community Service
• Professional Service
• Volunteer

Start Date/Year (optional)

List volunteer dates beginning with a starting date. Dates may include both months and years. However, if there are gaps in your volunteer history, you may prefer to list years only. Avoid listing dates older than ten or fifteen years.

Employer

Give the full name of the company, including division or parent company if applicable.

Company names that are entered in all capital letters will look sharp on your printed resume. You may abbreviate with Co., Corp., Ltd., or Div., but be consistent.

End Date/Year (optional End Date)

List volunteer dates followed by an ending date. Dates may include both months and years. However, if there are gaps in your volunteer history, you may prefer to list years only. Avoid listing dates older than ten or fifteen years.

Location

List only the city and state of the company where you volunteered.

Position/Title

Job titles may imply different job content to each employer. Start with your present or previous job title and consider other titles that describe your job. Use titles that best match your objective.

Avoid internal titles that only make sense to your employer — i.e., use Sales Representative instead of Sales Rep.

Description

Describe your responsibilities and accomplishments in professional terms. Think of how you can quantify the experience so that your membership appears to be more than something you did in name only. Indicate the approximate number of hours per week that you spent doing things for the organization and what specific duties and skills you used. Note any awards or letters of recommendation you received as a result of this work.

Begin sentences with action verbs and avoid the use of the personal pronouns (we/I).

Compose your own Description or select one or more of the recommended Action Phrases.