The Resume-Place Inc.

January 23 , 2003

KATHRYN TROUTMAN'S FEDERAL CAREER CORNER NEWSLETTER
Three Ways to Add Non-Profit Experience into your Federal Resume
By Carla Waskiewicz, Resume Place Writer
Three Case Studies
There many ways in which your volunteer activities can set you apart from the competition, enhance your job qualifications, and present you as the BEST candidate for the job. You can even change careers with experience and skills gained from volunteer and unpaid experiences.
A resume is a well-organized, easy to read presentation of your skills, abilities, and accomplishments. And, without a doubt, your job history is one of the most important rating factors for being selected as a qualified candidate for a federal job. But what if your experience for the position you are seeking was gained as a volunteer? This information can and should be included on your resume and can be incorporated into your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities statements (KSAs), as well.
Here are 3 great ways to make your non-paid work experiences, work for you!
If you have been an active leader in a community, city, school or nonprofit organization, or have extensive volunteer work that is directly related to the job you are seeking, you can feature this experience into your federal resume in several different areas:

PROFILE summary at the beginning of your resume.
EXPERIENCE section if the unpaid work was like a "real job" and you would like to use this experience to help you qualify for a job with specific skills.
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE — The last section of your resume. This heading could be called: Volunteer, Community Service, Non-Profit, Board Memberships, Outside Activities.

For example, if your volunteer position is the one that best demonstrates your qualifications for a job, you might want to title the work history section of your resume, "WORK AND VOLUNTEER HISTORY." You can then detail your volunteer position in the same way you would a paid position, with dates, hours, contact information, duties and accomplishments. (see Ten Steps Book, Step 6)
THREE CASE STUDIES WHERE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE WAS AS IMPORTANT AS PAID POSITIONS:

HISTORIAN for National Parks Service has no paid experience, but lots of relevant Interpreting volunteer work!
For example, I recently created a federal resume for a candidate who was seeking his first federal job as a Historian for the National Parks Service. He had no paid job experience in this field, but he did have related academic credentials -- a Master's degree in History, and an impressive list of volunteer positions as a Civil War interpreter, history re-enactor, living history demonstrator, and historical consultant.
Summarized versions of these history-related, non-paid activities were featured at the top of his resume in a "QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY" section. Keywords from the job posting were incorporated into this summary to clearly demonstrate that he was a perfect match for the job. Next, his current volunteer position at a National Military Park was the first "job" listed on his resume. A more detailed overview of his extensive list of history-related volunteer positions were listed under a special heading of "HISTORICAL CONSULTING EXPERIENCE."
Featuring volunteer and other non-paid jobs on your resume in the same way you would list paid experience, is also an effective resume approach if you are a recent college graduate with a nice list of internships or community service positions. Americorps Volunteer writes, edits and speaks her way into a paid Federal position as Public Affairs Specialist.

AMERICORPS. Another example was a young woman who was an Americorps/Peace Corps Volunteer seeking to transition to a federal position as a Public Affairs Specialist. Her leadership experience, newsletter writing and editing talents, and other translatable job skills gained through these positions, as well as two college internships as a new reporter for local newspapers, were highlighted on her resume under the WORK EXPERIENCE heading to demonstrate her qualifications for the job.

HEALTH INSURANCE SPECIALIST. And, finally, a Health Insurance Specialist was seeking a promotion and used her supervisory experience through volunteer political and community association activities. She had not supervised employees in any of her paid positions. In her free time, however, she had served as executive director of a local political group, and as president of her community association. The skills and experience she gained in these positions were highlighted in her "PROFILE" and further detailed in a section titled "COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP." The valuable experience could be excellent examples for KSAs for ability to communicate orally and in writing; ability to plan and coordinate; or ability to lead teams.
SUMMARY: Your volunteer unpaid experience is valuable resume resource for demonstrating your expertise as a leader, your communications skills, public speaking skills, your commitment to the community, and other skills. What you do outside of work can set you apart from the competition and help to present you as the best candidate for the job.
TIP: If you are using unpaid experience to help you qualify for a certain position, be sure to add the specific month, day and year of your experience. Also add the number of hours per week so that the human resources professional can add up the time you performed this task. If the Specialized Experience requires one year of experience, you can demonstrate this through unpaid or paid experience, as long as you verify the number of hours and dates.

FEDERAL JOB SUCCESS STORIES
This week, Resume Place received four wonderful emails from successful federal job-seekers. Here are their emails and success stories. Hope this inspires you to keep applying for federal jobs and write the "right" kind of federal resume and KSA package. If you need help you can come to www.resume-place.com for our excellent writing, editing and consulting staff.

Hi, friends,
Just a quick note to let you all know I have landed a job with TSA!! Effective 12/30, I am the HR Specialist for the Lehigh Valley, PA region, supporting ~225 screeners for five airports. Our office space is new. We have received some computers (to share), but will not have internet access for quite some time. Also, no installed phones.
Thanx for all your wonderful and assistance with my resume. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. NOTE: When people ask me how to find work in Homeland Security, I point them to The Resume Place!!
All the best. Happy New Year!
Jim Kendrigan, HR Specialist
TSA 961 Marcon Blvd, Suite 105, Allentown, PA 18109

hi bill,
i wanted to thank you for your work on the KSAs -- because i got the U.S. AID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance job! my FEMA boss said that he knew Of several people who had tried for the job (over the years) and i was the First one he knew who got it. i'm scheduled to go to their OFDA orientation and DART/RMT (Disaster Assistance Response Team/Response Management Team) training next month. but i just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your efforts,
Helen

Subject: I got the job!
Hi Alan, Good news! I finally cracked into the federal government and have accepted a job with the DOL as an international program analyst with the International Child Labor Program. I'll be researching and writing about global child labor issues, and developing technical assistance programs that help move children from work into school in countries outside the US.
Before taking your USDA workshop, I had read "The Federal Resume Guidebook," and used all the recommended tips when I applied for this job. I interviewed with the DOL after your workshop, which really had given me confidence to sell my abilities and experiences. I am just so delighted that you all helped me move on in my career. My tentative start date is Feb. 12, anticipating that the federal government hiring freeze will be lifted for the DOL by then.
Thank you!

Hi Jackie:
I am Rebeca from FDA; remember me? We worked in my resume while I was on a trip to the UK and Switzerland back in September. After more than three months, the selection has been made. I got the National Expert position!!! I already accepted and the paperwork for the promotion is already being prepared.
Thank you very much for your valuable help

Friday, January 17, 2002
Mike,
I thought that you would be interested to know that I sent 32 letters to Federal Executives using the cover letter you prepared for me just before Christmas. To date, I received eight (8) replies! These replies ranged from a networking interview to a notice that a SES position will open in that Agency in February and to reply to the opening. I never dreamed I would get a 25% reply rate.
Nice job, Mike!

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