LinkedIn acknowledges the importance of volunteering

Volunteering can really help you find a job and it’s not just a matter of good karma. According to a recent survey led by LinkedIn, having volunteer experience in your résumé is a pivotal factor in the job hunting process.

As a matter of fact 41% of the two thousand professionals polled by the company, said that they consider volunteer work as much as paid work and of the hiring managers surveyed, 20%  said they hired people on the basis of the candidates’ volunteer work experience.

For this reason LinkedIn has decided to add a new field to profiles, dedicated to the candidates’ volunteer experience and causes, since although many people do volunteering activities, they are often reluctant to include them in their resume.  (Of the two thousand  professionals surveyed, 89%  had volunteer experience but only 45% included that information in their résumé.

According to LinkedIn connection director  Nicole Williams,  people do not want to mention their volunteering experience in their C.V. because they do not consider it part of their professional life and they do not expect to be rewarded for it on a professional level. “Volunteering is a way of getting your nose in front of other candidates,” Williams says “It helps you meet potential employers or recommendations without having to search out paid work experience in a down economy”.