How to Include Volunteer Work on Your CV

Volunteer work is often undervalued on CVs. Many candidates either omit it entirely or mention it briefly at the bottom of the page. Done right, volunteering experience can add genuine weight to your application — particularly when you are changing careers, re-entering the workforce, or building skills in a new area.

When Volunteer Work Particularly Matters

Career changers: If you are pivoting into a new field, volunteer work in that field provides credible evidence that you have begun building the relevant experience and commitment.

Employment gaps: Volunteer work during a career break or redundancy period demonstrates continued professional engagement and may generate relevant keywords for the roles you are targeting.

Graduate CVs: Limited professional experience makes every meaningful activity worth including. Volunteer work that demonstrates leadership, project management, community engagement, or any other professional skill should be included.

Supporting a specialism: If you volunteer in a capacity that is directly relevant to your target role, include it alongside paid work — not hidden at the bottom.

How to Format Volunteer Experience

Treat substantive volunteer roles the same way you treat paid employment:

• Organisation name
• Your role title
• Dates (month and year)
• Two to three bullet points describing your responsibilities and achievements

Do not label it as "less than" your paid work through how you present it. If you managed volunteers, describe it with "managed a team of X volunteers." If you ran an event, describe the scale and outcome. If you fundraised, name the amount raised.

Where to Put It

For most professional CVs with substantial paid experience: a separate section at the bottom, labelled "Volunteering" or "Voluntary Work."

For graduate CVs or CVs with limited paid experience: consider including volunteering alongside your work experience in a combined "Experience" section, treating it on equal terms with paid roles if the work was substantial.

For career changers with highly relevant volunteer experience: it may warrant prominent placement near the top of your experience section.

What Not to Do

Do not include volunteering that adds no context or keywords — particularly if your CV is already full. Do not describe volunteering in vague terms ("helped out at a charity") when you can be specific ("managed community outreach events for 200+ attendees monthly").

Build your CV free at CVCircuit and make every section work for your application.