Adding your Volunteer Experience to Social Media and Your Resume
Resume and profile building are important for both professional and personal growth, and adding your volunteer experience to your profiles is a great way to make yourself stand out while showing your support for AFS! Here are some examples of what you could add to your resume, LinkedIn profile, and more.
Did you know that research by LinkedIn shows that 40% of hiring managers view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience? Plus, those who share their volunteer experience receive six times as many profile views as those without. Wow! Check out this video from LinkedIn to learn more, including a step-by-step tutorial of how to add your volunteer experience with AFS-USA to your LinkedIn profile.
Ready to receive more attention on LinkedIn and grow your career?
First, make sure that you’re following the AFS-USA LinkedIn profile called, “AFS Intercultural Programs USA.” Then add your volunteer experience to your profile. It’s that easy!
Resume
There are many reasons why adding your volunteer experience to your professional resume can be valuable, including if you have limited formal work experience, you're transitioning into a new industry, or you have a gap on your resume. Be sure to be specific about what roles and responsibilities you assumed as a volunteer.
Here’s an example:
AFS-USA, Volunteer
July 2018-Present
- Helped plan and run annual orientations for 10+ international exchange students
- Interviewed 30 volunteer applicants
- Supported exchange students and host families with monthly phone calls and visits
Need more information about how to add your volunteering experience to your resume? Check out this helpful article, which features more examples and ideas.
Be sure that you’re following the AFS-USA Facebook page called “AFS USA” to make sure that you see opportunities for volunteers to build skills and participate in growth experiences.
Are you following the AFS Instagram? Be sure to follow the account called afs_usa for student take overs and fun initiatives.
Know someone who’d like to register as a volunteer? They can get started here. Write to AskAFS@afsusa.org for questions about volunteer registration and following AFS-USA accounts on social media.
Training Center
AFS has a number of online modules to deepen your understanding and enrich your volunteer experience.
You can access AFS-USA's Training Center from the sidebar in MyAFS, underneath the list of widgets.
Learn more about our online trainings here.
Build Your Intercultural Skills
Foundations of Intercultural Learning and Global Competence is AFS’s training and assessment program to increase intercultural and global competence for volunteers and staff.
In the course you will:
- Discover how AFS creates impact
- Learn tools to understand differences and suspend judgment
- Explore cultural dimensions and intercultural communication strategies
- Reflect on ways to make AFS more inclusive at the local level
- Get inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals to take action in your community
This is a self-paced course, you decide how fast or slow you want to go. The online course consists of 11 modules with videos, forum questions, quizzes, and activities. Each module should take between 20 to 60 minutes to complete. During the course, your Qualified Trainers will invite you to attend three 90-minute Live Sessions where you will meet others from your global cohort and dive deeper into the course topics.
To register for the this course click on this link and fill out the short form at the bottom of the webpage.
CultureGrams
CultureGrams is an online resource that contains information on over 200 countries. Topics range from non-verbal communication to holidays, current events to the economy.
Access this online country-specific resource though AFS’s subscription*
www.culturegrams.com
- Username: afsusa
- Password: cgrams
*AFS has a limited license for these materials. Please close the window when you are finished using CultureGrams so that others may do so.