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First Resume Examples and Templates
Volunteer Resume Examples and Templates for 2024
Last Updated:
August 30, 2024
Table of Contents
Volunteer Resume Templates and Examples (Download in App)
- Volunteer supervisor
- Hospital volunteer
- Volunteer coordinator
To write a good volunteer resume, focus on how you can help nonprofits or other organizations maximize their efforts and resources related to non-paid personnel. This guide provides expert tips to help you create an accomplishment-driven resume highlighting the best aspects of your experience.
Key takeaways:
- Use bullet points to showcase your work and volunteer highlights. Start each bullet point with a strong verb or verb phrase like “Created,” “Enhanced,” or “Managed and motivated.”
- Spell out the results of your past work as a volunteer or volunteer supervisor. Describe how your efforts helped the organization advance its mission or improve its volunteer program.
- Emphasize your skills relevant to a volunteer role, such as teamwork or community outreach.
How To Write a Volunteer Resume
Using a template can help you write an effective volunteer resume. Your volunteer resume should usually include these sections:
- Contact information
- Profile
- Key skills
- Professional/volunteer experience
- Education and certifications
1. Share your contact information
Give your full name, phone number, email address, location, and links to any online profiles. Ensure your contact information is current so hiring managers can reach you for an interview.
Example
Your Name
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
City, State Abbreviation Zip Code
2. Write a compelling profile summarizing your qualifications
Impress hiring managers at the top of your resume by giving the three to five primary reasons you’d excel at their organization. For instance, you might describe your focus on public safety and community well-being if those are key causes of the volunteer program in question.
Example
Compassionate health care professional with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and health care administration and an Associate degree in medical assisting. Skilled in patient care coordination and administrative support in hospital settings, with a record of improving patient satisfaction and office efficiency.
3. Add an accomplishment-driven experience section
View the experience section as a chance to give detailed examples of your work and success in roles similar to the one you’re now pursuing. For example, maybe you started a volunteer recognition program in your current role. Describe how that program made the team more cohesive or helped improve volunteer retention.
Example
Volunteer Coordinator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Indianapolis, IN | January 2018 to December 2018
- Managed database of over 500 volunteers, ensuring accurate records and efficient volunteer deployment during emergencies
- Organized training programs to enhance volunteers’ skills and emergency preparedness
- Introduced regular volunteer communications that improved retention by 15%
Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience
Use relevant performance data and metrics to show the results you’ve achieved in your career so far. Hard numbers provide context to your work history and give recruiters a better sense of your scope and impact.
Do
- “Recruited and trained over 200 volunteers for various disaster relief operations, increasing participation by 30%”
Don’t
- “Responsible for volunteer recruitment, training, and engagement”
Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume for each application
Most organizations rely on some form of applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify qualified candidates for job openings. To get your resume through the initial screening and into the hiring manager’s hands, incorporate keywords from the job posting directly into your profile, professional experience, and skills section.
What if you don’t have experience?
Creating a resume can be challenging if you don’t have real-world experience yet. But you still have valuable skills and knowledge from your education and training. Emphasize any relevant coursework you’ve done or certifications you’ve earned. Also, consider describing internships you’ve completed in your field, and emphasize your work ethic and willingness to learn. By highlighting these qualities, you can show how you’d be an asset to any team.
4. Include relevant education and certifications
With the education and certifications sections, you can show you have a strong knowledge base in your field. Cite any credentials you’ve earned that speak to your abilities as a volunteer or volunteer supervisor. Also, include any training you’ve done that relates to your target employer’s mission or areas of focus. Following are templates to help you organize this information on your volunteer resume (note, years are optional).
Education
Template:
[Degree Name], [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] | [Graduation Year]
Example:
Bachelor of Science in Nonprofit Management, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Certifications
Template:
[Certification Name], [Awarding Organization] | [Completion Year]
Example:
Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA), Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration
5. List pertinent key skills
A separate skills section lets you quickly display the different ways you can add value to an organization.
Below, you’ll find a list of key terms and skills that you may encounter while applying for volunteer-related positions:
| Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Community outreach | Conflict resolution |
| Database management | Event planning and coordination |
| Fundraising | Nonprofit leadership |
| Process streamlining | Project management |
| Recruitment and training | Reporting and documentation |
| Team collaboration | Time management |
| Volunteer administration | Volunteer retention and recognition |
| Work scheduling | |
Resume writer’s tip: Use common action verbs
One of the best ways to enhance your resume is by starting each bullet point with a strong action verb. Dynamic verbs help you keep the hiring manager’s attention and show the varied nature of your experience. The following list can help you find a good mix of action verbs for your volunteer resume:
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Advanced | Created |
| Decreased | Enhanced |
| Established | Fostered |
| Generated | Grew |
| Improved | Increased |
| Introduced | Lowered |
| Prevented | Ranked |
| Reduced | Streamlined |
| Supported | Updated |
| Won | |
How To Pick the Best Volunteer Resume Template
A resume is a simple tool for professional communication and should be formatted that way. Choose a template that’s clear and straightforward, and avoid any with elaborate graphics or various colors and font styles. Simple resume design helps a hiring manager more quickly scan for relevant information. It also helps you more easily tailor the document to each job application and make updates to your work history going forward.
Volunteer Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples
Anthony Gentile
Minneapolis, MN 12345 | (123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | LinkedIn
Dedicated professional with a strong background in public safety and community well-being, having worked for the American Red Cross and FEMA.
Key Skills
- Community outreach
- Event planning
- Fundraising
- Nonprofit leadership
- Project management
- Team collaboration
- Volunteer administration
- Volunteer training
Professional Experience
Volunteer Supervisor, American Red Cross, Minneapolis, MN | January 2018 to present
- Train and motivate new volunteers to effectively carry out duties and advance the organization’s mission
- Managed over 20 community outreach projects, effectively promoting the organization’s activities and building relationships with community members
- Served as key liaison between the organization and the community by addressing concerns, providing information, and gathering feedback to improve services
Project Coordinator, FEMA, New York, NY | June 2014 to December 2017
- Led a team of volunteers to plan and execute disaster response initiatives
- Coordinated with other agencies and stakeholders to ensure prompt and effective response to emergencies
- Actively addressed challenges to ensure projects achieved all goals
Professional Development
- Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA), Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration
- Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), CFRE International
- Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Certified (CNP), Nonprofit Leadership Alliance
Why this volunteer resume example is strong: This resume excels with a prominent skills section showing the various ways Anthony can add value to an organization, such as training volunteers or planning events.
Frequently Asked Questions: Volunteer Resume Examples and Advice
How do you align your resume with a volunteer job posting?
First, look closely at the job post text and highlight words that are repeated, emphasized, or otherwise seem important. Compare these highlighted phrases to the language you’re using in your resume, particularly the profile and key skills sections. Then, seek ways to align your resume language with the job posting while not copying phrases or misstating your background.
For example, if the nonprofit seeks someone collaborative, you may want to call out that aspect of your experience in your profile. Or say the organization has many non-English speaking customers. You could highlight your foreign language skills both in your profile and as a separate section farther down the document. With adjustments like these, you can make your resume more relevant to each opportunity.
What is the best volunteer resume format?
The combination or hybrid format merges a functional resume’s profile section with a chronological resume’s experience section. Most modern resumes (including the three on this page) follow this format because it gives hiring managers the clearest view of an applicant’s strengths and work history.
Expert advice:
Include a cover letter with your resume
A good cover letter makes a valuable addition to most job applications. To make your letter stand out, tell the hiring manager why you’re interested in their organization and the specific volunteer role they hope to fill.
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Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.
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