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Subject:RE: Volunteer Work on a Resume? From:"Sarah Evans" <sevans -at- sigem -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 21 Mar 2001 11:16:03 -0500
Never discount volunteer experience on a resume -- several years in the
student media gave me not only a decent portfolio but the foundation for a
professional writing career. I got my first job out of university
(political science grad no less!) because I had proof I was a good writer
and had the technical skills to back it up. The degree mattered but the all
the technical skills I possessed were from volunteering as a writer or being
an editor (small honorarium) -- no expensive training required and it was a
lot of fun despite the late nights. Many of my university colleagues are
tech or marketing writers now too.
I have my most recent and relevant volunteer experience in a Volunteer
Experience section. Any positions where I was paid anything I include in my
Work Experience section. While it is true that some employers and/or
recruiters won't count volunteer experience, that is definitely not the case
for all. Each category gives them a choice on whether or not to take a
closer look. Historically, I have had a good response with this format.
Sarah R. Evans
Technical Writer
SiGEM Inc.
275 Michael Cowpland Drive
Ottawa, ON mailto:sevans -at- sigem -dot- com
www.sigem.com
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-63646 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-63646 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Bonnie
Granat
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 8:03 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Volunteer Work on a Resume?
I've volunteered through an e-mail
conversation to edit Web pages for a
fairly prominent scientific
organization. (I had sent a message with
an editorial correction for an article
on special relativity, a subject in
which I am interested. I received a
thankful response and in my response to
that, I offered to help as a volunteer
if they needed an editor. A couple of
days later I got another thankful e-mail
and some details on an assignment that I
could do.
I'd love to round out my experience with
this, but I'm not sure about the best
way to refer to it on my resume. I'm not
jobhunting now, but I've learned to
always have the resume at the ready,
because one never knows what's coming.
Perhaps in the future, if they like my
work, they'd offer money, but in the
meantime, is there anything wrong with
putting this on my resume? If not, any
suggestions about how to present it? I'm
drawing a complete blank.
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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