Do Volunteer Hours Matter to Employers?

If you are applying for jobs, you have probably spent a lot of time thinking about what belongs on your resume. Education, internships, previous jobs, and technical skills are obvious additions. Volunteer experience can be a little harder to place. Does a potential employer actually care that you spent your weekends volunteering?

The short answer is yes! This doesn't mean they are looking for the candidate with the most hours. Rather, they are looking at what you did with that time, what skills you developed, and what your involvement says about you.

Research suggests that volunteer experience can help you stand out from other candidates and improve your chances of securing an interview. Here is what you need to know about volunteer work, employers, and how to make your experience count.

Why do Employers Care about Volunteer Work?

Employers are not just looking at where you have worked before. They want evidence that you can communicate, collaborate with others, take initiative, problem solve, and follow through on commitments.

Volunteer experience can prove all of those qualities.

A Deloitte survey of 2,506 people who directly or indirectly influence hiring decisions found that 82% were more likely to choose a candidate with volunteer experience on their resume. Even more surprisingly, 85% said they would be willing to overlook other resume flaws when a candidate included volunteer work. Deloitte's research also found that 92% of respondents believed volunteering improves professional skill sets and leadership skills.

Volunteer work gives employers a way to understand who you are as well as your willingness to contribute to something bigger than yourself.

Does Volunteer Experience Actually Make a Difference on a Resume?

It is one thing for employers to say that they value volunteering in theory. It is another to understand how it influences hiring decisions in practice.

A 2021 study published in Economics Letters put this to the test by sending 2,000 fictitious resumes to real job openings in the United States. Half of the resumes were randomly given volunteer experience while the other half were not.

The results showed that the fictitious candidates whose resumes included volunteer experience received 45% more interview callbacks overall.

This research does not pretend to claim that volunteering will automatically land you your dream job. The effects varied across industries. It does however indicate that volunteer experience can generally make you a more attractive candidate.

How Can You Make Your Volunteer Work Count?

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that volunteer work is first and foremost a way to contribute to your community. The experiences and skills you develop as a result, however, can certainly follow you into the more traditional workplace environment.

If you are thinking about volunteering from a career perspective, stop focusing on how quickly you can rack up the hours. What matters more is what those hours represent.

Consistency is a great place to start. Returning to the same organization over time gives you the chance to learn how it operates, build meaningful relationships, and take on more responsibility. You may start by helping with a simple task, for example weeding or organizing donations, and eventually find yourself coordinating an event, training another volunteer, leading a group, or solving problems independently. Who knows, your volunteer work could even lead directly to an internship with your favorite nonprofit.

Those are the kinds of experiences that give you something meaningful to put on a resume and, even more importantly, something to talk about in an interview. When an employer asks you to describe a time you took initiative, overcame a challenge, or worked with a team, your answer does not have to come from a paid job. Your volunteer experience counts too!

Where Can You Find Worthwhile Volunteer Opportunities in Hawaii?

It is so much easier to volunteer consistently when you find something that actually fits your interests, schedule, and goals. Instead of choosing an opportunity simply because you need hours, look for and learn about a cause you consider important. Find volunteer work you will be excited to return to.

This is where VolunteerAlly can help!

VolunteerAlly makes it easy to discover meaningful opportunities across Hawaii based on your location, interests, and availability. Whether you want to spend your morning restoring native habitats, helping local families, or working with animals, you can find an opportunity that works for you.

The best volunteer experience is not necessarily the one that gives you the most hours. It is the one that allows you to make a meaningful contribution, keep showing up, and grow along the way. Ongoing opportunities listed on VolunteerAlly are a great way to invest more time in a cause you care about.

Your time can make a significant difference in your community. And, as the research shows, the experience you gain while donating your time can make a real difference for you both personally and professionally.

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