It Will Look Good On Your Resume

By Mary Ellen Shea Clifford

Mary Ellen Shea Clifford has served as a Sysop (System Operator) on CompuServe's Career Management Forum and is a speaker/workshop leader on the topic of "It Will Look Good on Your Resume" a workshop designed to help people in their career development, learn networking skills, and to begin working on a resume.

Whether you are just out of college, a parent working at home or a management employee, volunteer work is important and valid in your career development. Nothing in the rule book says that when you list work experience on your resume that you had to be paid monetarily for it. Work experience is work experience whether paid or non paid. You will find some of life's most rewarding experiences in your volunteer career.

It is important to take your volunteer work seriously. This is a job that can make a difference in this world and only you can make it a successful experience. Find something that enhances your skills in your own career as well as helping others at the same time. If you want bookkeeping skills then volunteer to be a treasurer on a board of directors. If you need computer skills then offer to do data entry for an organization. One of the most looked for qualities in many positions is the ability to be a good supervisor. The best volunteer experience I ever had was working as a Chairperson of a 15 member committee to put on a three day conference for over 1,000 attendees. I learned tact, how to successfully delegate jobs, how to work with all kinds of people at different levels of capabilities and how to think and act quickly when making decisions.

When you set your goals to attain a career that you have always dreamed of then it is important to use your volunteer time wisely. Look at the career you have and the one you want to have and decide what skills are the most important ones to learn in order to attain your new career. Meet with people that are already doing the job you want to do and ask their advice - these people will be most beneficial to you when you are actually ready to search for a job in your new career. Networking begins before you need to get a job - it is something you should do all the time.

Then decide where you would like to put your volunteer time. Make a list of the places you would like to work - Church - School - Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - Red Cross - United Way - there are hundreds of places that you can call. Call the director and ask for an appointment and offer to volunteer your time in your designated areas of service. If that organization doesn't have something to fit what you want to gain skills in then call another.

When you put your volunteer work on your resume this is just another job. You may put it in chronological order along with your other positions or decide to have a section for community service - whatever you want to do on your resume is okay - this is your resume. Do not list whether something is volunteer or paid - there is no difference in experience - however, never lie on your resume and do not exaggerate what your position was - if you are asked if something was a volunteer position then say "Sure, it was the best way to brush up on my skills and to help out our community at the same time, wouldn't you agree?"

We can make a difference in other people's lives through our volunteer work - and at the same time we can make a difference in our own lives. Remember how you look at your work is more important than how a prospective employer will look at your work - because how you really feel will come out in your resume and in your interviews. Begin to see your work experiences as steps to a new career and present them in a professional way showing the important difference this work has made to you in your development.

For information about Mary Ellen's "It Will Look Good on Your Resume" workshop you can contact her at: mesclifford2@msn.com

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