Employers, does voluntary work look as good as people claim?

Hope4Hope

Thanks for all your responses. It's given me some confidence and motivation to start volunteering in the hopes employers might not ditch my CV within 5 seconds of looking at it.

Firetastic

I don't think I would have got my interviews that I've had if I hadn't put my volunteering work on my CV.

[Deleted User]

Hope4Hope wrote: »

employers might not ditch my CV within 5 seconds of looking at it.

Were have you been applying to, though? Most Supermarket jobs usually have a questioned assessment when you are submitting an application and I wouldn't have thought mentioning their workers as unskilled or any job will do nature would get anyone very far. I've a 4 hour assessment tomorrow for a help desk operator job and that's after getting through a listening test in the first stage, it is just above min wage but I'd never dream of saying this job is unqualified and you must employ thicko's - there aren't really interviews anymore and a lot more to an employer just 'picking up the phone' nowadays.

Though I seriously think you should go easy on yourself We've just had a summer holiday and Brexit

You've supported yourself for 10 years that has got to be AN achievement? If volunteering is what you want to do then good on you but do make it work for you and I'd certainly be clear on if there were any length of time I'd have to commit to before I was eligible for a reference - because I have seen this requirement before as much as I'll get hung for daring to say it.

daytona0

Gavin83 wrote: »

Picture yourself in the employers shoes. You have two candidates, one has voluntary work on their CV the other has nothing. Who would you pick?

It obviously only really applies to entry level jobs though. I wouldn't be particularly impressed if a manager applied for a job with his last position in a voluntary job at a cat sanctuary.

Therein lies the beauty of interpretation...

Maybe a volunteer in a cat sanctuary has to deal with sick and poorly cats on a regular basis. Maybe they have to decide which cats they put down for being too sickly and maybe they negotiate with people who are looking to adopt. And maybe they are a bit more *real* and interesting!

May be some useful skills which can be transferred over to a manager position. Sadly you'd be the rule as apposed to the exception in your perception, which is why it is particularly hard (and daunting) for a lot of people when job hunting!

But that's just how it goes in fairness, so I can't criticise you for anything.


I'd love to do interviews. I would just love giving people like OP, or the cat sanctuary person, an interview (if the CV is error-free!) and just see what they say. Throw in a few tests and see how they cope. Depends if you can support development though, as some companies just want the final product with minimum hassle.

Lamentation

Remember you should use the opportunity to build up a list of potential job interview questions, so look out for opportunities within the role to identify the competencies that you've demonstrated.

Many employers have competency based interviews where they ask for examples when the applicant has provided excellent customer service, contributed to improvements and quality, worked as a member of a team, demonstrated good communication skills, etc.

Your local library will have books on interviews and the structured way that a candidate may be expected to answer at a more formal competency based interview. These will help you note your achievements in your voluntary role, the softer skills and behaviours that an employer may look for, other than things like time keeping, cash handling, customer service, etc.

Good luck. Also, remember that there may be voluntary roles in other areas than a charity shop if you want to pick up admin skills, caring skills and so forth, too.

Lamentation

By the way, my voluntary work directly led to my most recent temping position. (I wasn't out of work for very long though and do have an employment history though.)

I volunteer for a charity that deals with vulnerable people. Because of this, I had to undertake PVG screening (protection of vulnerable groups) so I have a PVG certificate, the type that people who work in schools, care homes and hospitals have to achieve which shows their criminal history.


So my voluntary work directly led to my most recent job and without it, I would not have been considered - the voluntary work that I do has nothing to do with the admin work I undertake, they are completely different roles, it was having a recent disclosure certificate that was the key.