Volunteer Work Leads to Employment: Survey

Despite hiring managers saying they value volunteer work equally with paid work when evaluating a candidate, less than 50 percent of Australians include volunteer work on their resumes, according to new research.

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One out of every five hiring managers in Australia have hired a candidate because of their volunteer work experience, according to research by online professional network LinkedIn.

However the report revealed that less than 50 percent of Australians include their volunteer experience on their resume.

LinkedIn – world’s largest professional network with more than 120 million members worldwide and over 2 million in Australia – surveyed over one thousand professionals in Australia.

The survey found that 77 percent of respondents have personally had experience volunteering, but only 46 percent of professionals include their volunteer experience on their resume.

Forty-seven percent of the professionals surveyed stated that when they are evaluating candidates, they consider volunteer work equally as valuable as paid work experience. 22 percent of the hiring managers surveyed agree they have made a hiring decision based on a candidate’s volunteer work experience.

Cliff Rosenberg, Managing Director, LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, says a majority of professionals in Australia have had volunteer experience but perceive it to be separate or irrelevant to their current profession.

Rosenberg says someone may be a sales person by trade, but if they organised a fundraising event, they can add skills, like event planning or event marketing, to their profile. Having those additional skills can set a person apart and potentially make them a more attractive employee and business partner.

LinkedIn says the survey reinforces volunteer work is a key piece of a person’s professional identity.

LinkedIn released the findings of the survey as they announced that members of the network can now add a “Volunteer Experience and Causes” field to their LinkedIn Profile.

The new feature means that users can now list Not for Profit organisations they support in their profile.