Add Volunteering to your CV

Originally published in The Business Times, 29th August 2020. Written by Vivien Ang.

It tells your prospective employer that you are willing to step up and take on more responsibilities, and it polishes your soft skills

Unless your New Year resolution was to binge watch a hundred Netflix programmes, most of the goals set earlier in the year would have gone kaput with the advent of Covid-19. A friend of mine, one of many who found themselves jobless during this period, was updating her resume and asked me to "take a quick look at it".

"Looks good," I remarked. "But why don't you add your volunteer experience too?"

"Huh, got use meh?" she replied, sounding bewildered.

To her, like many others, volunteering was something that they did during their free time, with the intention to help others. But surely the skills they learned in the process should count for something too?

For a start, volunteering allows talent to polish transferable soft skills such as being able to work as a team, project management and communication, says Martin Hill, director, human resources, Randstad Singapore. "It also gives the employer some insight about the job seeker and how well they can fit into their organisational culture, and those who are interested in volunteering should focus on looking for skills-based volunteer roles that are relevant to their industry and career," he adds.

CEO of talenTtrust, Tess Mackean, says: "Skills-based volunteering is where working professionals volunteer their time and experience, either in person or remotely, to mentor a charity and help them enhance any area of specialist skills they might be lacking, such as operations, HR and marketing. A well-run project significantly improves the ability of non-profits to excel and endure, and at the same time provides a platform for professionals to sharpen their own skills and personal growth."

Being a volunteer helped Azel Han, assistant manager, corporate communications, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, widen her range of responsibilities instead of being confined to a single function. "As a volunteer at Jardines MINDSET Singapore, I was given the opportunity to fund raise across various stakeholder groups, allowing me to expand on negotiation and project management skills, as well as lead a team and work alongside volunteers from different functions. In addition, volunteering allows you to widen your network across other professionals who share the same passion in doing good for the community. This might come in handy in one's professional career in the future."

In 2019, a research conducted by talenTtrust showed that volunteers were better able to develop an appreciation of the challenges that non-profit organisations face, and empathy for their team mates who come from different backgrounds.

As Diana Ong, founder of Soap Ministry, puts it: "My main volunteer experiences were when I was in church. We reached out to children in rural areas of countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. As an employer, the experiences help me empathise with the different challenges my team may be going through, and appreciate them more," she says.

Gone are the days when volunteerism was seen as something done by people who had ample time on their hands; a nice pastime for bored housewives or something enacted at school as part of a lesson on good citizenship. There may also be a fear that putting volunteering on a resume suggests a person has been unable to secure a paid role and had to resort to "working for free", but "to continue to view it in this way disregards the very real career advantages volunteering can provide", says Ms Mackean.

"For many fresh grads fighting for a small number of places in top-level firms, volunteer experience and a demonstrable willingness to work hard could be the difference between earning a spot and missing out. For a younger candidate it shows initiative and for an experienced candidate it speaks of growth, humility and integrity," she adds.

Mr Hill agrees: "Volunteering shows employers that the employee is willing to rise to new challenges at work and is more willing to take on additional responsibilities."

vivang@sph.com.sg