How to Use Service Learning Experience in the Job Search

So, you've spent some time during your college years volunteering and taking part in service-learning - now how can you capitalize on this experience during your job search?

Employers love well-rounded employees. While they realize that not everyone has time to take a full load of classes while chairing the homecoming committee and single-handedly building a local soup kitchen, they do like to see that candidates for a job are willing to move outside of their comfort zones and give back to the community. They're also looking for candidates with job experience, and if you planned your service opportunities carefully, this could be the biggest personal benefit from service learning.

When it comes to creating a top-notch resume, highlighting your service-learning experience is usually a matter of wording and organization. Don't lie about your responsibilities or job titles, but also don't shortchange yourself because you think it's "just" a volunteer job. If you planned a successful public relations campaign for a non-profit organization, your future employer is going to be more interested in the outcome than in whether you were paid for the job.

When organizing your resume, don't be afraid to combine volunteer and paid jobs under catch-all headings like "Desktop Publishing Experience" so that you can include your time as an administrative assistant and your service-learning experience creating newsletters for a charity side by side. Consider creating a skills-based resume that allows you to list relevant experience and abilities more easily than the standard chronological resume.

You've likely heard of the various versions of "Tell me about a time when you..." you're going to hear during job interviews. Your service-learning background should provide you with concrete, specific, career-related examples of your skills and experience that you can call on at a moment's notice.

Also, if you are in a career where a portfolio would be appropriate, let your service-learning experience shine when creating it. Think about concrete examples of your work, like newsletters or spreadsheets. Since service learning focuses so much on reflection, select journal entries you would like to share, or write an essay detailing your growth during a service-learning experience. Even a certificate of participation would be a nice touch since it helps paint a picture of a well-rounded individual who didn't just spend her school days studying. Think about this end product while you're volunteering so that you're not left with blank pages in your portfolio. A little forethought will let you save important documents and ask for letters of reference or official documentation of hours volunteered.

This article first appeared on Back2college.com in October 2005 as part of "Enhancing Education - The Benefits of Service-Learning".