Volunteer 'Experience'

richnewman

I'm just wondering what everyone's opinions are about volunteer experience.

Is it held in the same regard as actually holding the job? I know people on here have recommended volunteering at computer shops or the like, but I'm talking about higher up the ladder, such as network/system admin.

For the 'hiring people' on the forums, how do you feel about candidates with volunteer experience?

ipconfig.all

Well I have done volunteer I.T work in the past and is still doing some part time volunteer work. For me experience is experience weather you got paid or not and I was able to learn so much, thanks to that experience I have more skills, confident and a overall experience than before and I am able to get around 2 interviews a month. In my resume I do say I volunteered etc etc and for me employers have not yet looked down on it. But I really need something that is stable and is well paid full time I hope I will find something soon, also volunteer work helps cause you get to network with others and they could also help you out, one of the guys did my resume and it looks better than ever.

ipconfig.all

volunteering for I.T experience is recommended for people who are trying to start out in I.T or people who have being out of work for so long and if they need something to put in their resume while they are job hunting so their skills etc will be up to date or for people who wants college credits etc in order for you to graduate or if you want to learn something new in I.T that you already do not know.

NetworkingStudent

richnewman wrote: »

I'm just wondering what everyone's opinions are about volunteer experience.

Is it held in the same regard as actually holding the job? I know people on here have recommended volunteering at computer shops or the like, but I'm talking about higher up the ladder, such as network/system admin.

For the 'hiring people' on the forums, how do you feel about candidates with volunteer experience?

• I have never done any admin volunteer work, but I have done some IT volunteer work. I volunteer at Freegeek on the weekends. At Freegeek we break down computers, recycle the parts, and then rebuild computers from the reusable parts. The computers we rebuiild often have a mother board and a processor inside the case already. We rebuild the systems by searching for compatible ram sticks, video card cards, and hard drives that we have laying around. The computer systems are loaded with Ubuntu Linux, and given to people or organizations that need a computer. I’m not sure if anyone that volunteers there would vouch for me volunteering there, but I’m going to list it on my resume.

• On the flip side I had a 2 day volunteer job where I would come in run disk clean up, defrag the hard drive, install up dates, and run the virus scanner on 2 computers. I was hesitant to take the job at first, because of the simplicity of the tasks involved. However, the person that gave me the work offered to let me use them as a referral. I believe this would be a good talking point. The weirdest thing about that job is that there were people that got paid to work there, which seemed odd since I was volunteering.

• I agree with IPconf.all I have met a lot of people at these gigs and I believe the wealth of knowledge is worth so much more than the volunteer experience itsel. One person in the IT field at freegeek gave me some advice….. Employers like to see someone helping the little guy..That means volunteering
Good Luck..I hope this helps

blargoe

I wouldn't ever list it as professional experience, because it isn't.

That doesn't mean you can't put it on your resume or that it isn't something that can help. I would think particularly for entry level positions anything showing that you have been exposed to things that are relevant to the company to which you are applying is a positive thing. I'm not exactly sure how I would present it though; I've never been in that situation.

ipconfig.all

It depends on what you do and yes you can list it as professional experience because it is professional experience just because you didn't get paid it doesn't mean its not professional. It all depends on what kind of tasks you do and how you do it (best practices etc)

For an example if you configured an isa server (not winging configuring it with best practices) and you didnt get paid for it and you have being there and done that and got the experience what difference does it make.

Volunteering is a great way to get professional and solid experience because in these hard economic times employers love free labour and love someone who would volunteer to get experience it shows the motivation and shows you are not so hungry for the money and that you actually care and want to learn.

blargoe wrote: »

I wouldn't ever list it as professional experience, because it isn't.

That doesn't mean you can't put it on your resume or that it isn't something that can help. I would think particularly for entry level positions anything showing that you have been exposed to things that are relevant to the company to which you are applying is a positive thing. I'm not exactly sure how I would present it though; I've never been in that situation.

JoJoCal19

blargoe wrote: »

I wouldn't ever list it as professional experience, because it isn't.

That doesn't mean you can't put it on your resume or that it isn't something that can help. I would think particularly for entry level positions anything showing that you have been exposed to things that are relevant to the company to which you are applying is a positive thing. I'm not exactly sure how I would present it though; I've never been in that situation.

So you're telling me that if I am volunteering doing CCNA level work, an actual job just not getting paid, that it's not professional experience? How does that work.

ipconfig.all

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

So you're telling me that if I am volunteering doing CCNA level work, an actual job just not getting paid, that it's not professional experience? How does that work.

It all depends on the work you do doesn't matter if it is paid or not. You could do a paid job and it could not be professional and vise versa, take it from someone who has done volunteer i.t work in the past and is still doing, it does count, it counts a lot and you get to learn heaps and heaps and it is real world skills.

docrice

I wouldn't call volunteer work "professional" necessarily. Although the actual work might be the same, employers who take in volunteers might be more relaxed on the "hiring requirements" if they knew there was no pay involved. From a potential employer's perspective looking at the resume, this is what I would consider.

Although I haven't looked at resumes recently to see how people approach this, I'd say to list volunteer experience along with the rest of your employment history (if any) but note that they were volunteer work. The fact that it was noted as non-paid would be appreciated by me, and plus it shows a degree of dedication to maintaining / enhancing your existing skill sets.

JoJoCal19

docrice wrote: »

I wouldn't call volunteer work "professional" necessarily. Although the actual work might be the same, employers who take in volunteers might be more relaxed on the "hiring requirements" if they knew there was no pay involved. From a potential employer's perspective looking at the resume, this is what I would consider.

Although I haven't looked at resumes recently to see how people approach this, I'd say to list volunteer experience along with the rest of your employment history (if any) but note that they were volunteer work. The fact that it was noted as non-paid would be appreciated by me, and plus it shows a degree of dedication to maintaining / enhancing your existing skill sets.

Well my experience is not classified as "professional" or not, it's all work experience. I haven't had hands on Cisco experience so when I get my CCNA, I will look to employers to "volunteer" or work for free to get the hands on experience. I will list that experience right on my resume with my other work experience and note that it was unpaid but I wont classify it as "volunteer".

chmorin

I see it more usefull when it comes to getting practice and experiance under your belt, but I wouldn't put it under past jobs. It would be something along the lines of "Experiance in *insert skill used in volenteering*."

ipconfig.all

You do not have to say unpaid, say you did "work experience" work experience is the word. It is easy to get a volunteer job than a paid one because there is no pay involved but that doesn't mean the job is not professional or professional, like I said before it is all about what you do and the experience, you could get hired to do a paid job and that wouldn't be professional. For an example if you did unpaid work and deployed a large cisco based network and applied what you already knew and what you knew in your certifications, yeah that is professional experience.

there are lots of people who found jobs through contacts and networking so hiring requirement etc from employer is low that doesn't mean it was not professional as well.

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Well my experience is not classified as "professional" or not, it's all work experience. I haven't had hands on Cisco experience so when I get my CCNA, I will look to employers to "volunteer" or work for free to get the hands on experience. I will list that experience right on my resume with my other work experience and note that it was unpaid but I wont classify it as "volunteer".

networker050184

blargoe wrote: »

I wouldn't ever list it as professional experience, because it isn't.

That doesn't mean you can't put it on your resume or that it isn't something that can help. I would think particularly for entry level positions anything showing that you have been exposed to things that are relevant to the company to which you are applying is a positive thing. I'm not exactly sure how I would present it though; I've never been in that situation.

I agree here. If you put it on your resume make sure its VERY clear that its volunteer work.

ipconfig.all

You could say I did work experience at (company name) as a (job title)

and list the stuff that you did.

or say I volunteered to gain work experience at (company name) as a (job title) and list the stuff you did.

paid or not for an employer it will not matter it is the experience and the work you do that matters, and volunteering is a good way of getting experience.

networker050184

ipconfig.all wrote: »

You could say I did work experience at (company name) as a (job title)

I wouldn't list it that way. It seems deceptive to me. If I came across your resume I'd assume you actually worked for them. When I found out you didn't I'd probably scratch you off my list of candidates.

ipconfig.all wrote: »

paid or not for an employer it will not matter

I disagree with this also. Volunteering at a place and actually being a paid employee is completely different.

ipconfig.all

networker050184 wrote: »

I wouldn't list it that way. It seems deceptive to me. If I came across your resume I'd assume you actually worked for them. When I found out you didn't I'd probably scratch you off my list of candidates.

Well it is working cause you did do work for the company, also as a reference put the contact details of the owner of the company or show them the reference letter as proof of your work and the time you spend with the company.

Work experience is the word for it cause you do the work to gain experience.

I disagree with this also. Volunteering at a place and actually being a paid employee is completely different.

Have you ever held down both a volunteer and a paid job? networker050184? if not how can you say the difference when you didn't even experience it.

Also like I said before it is always about the company and the job responsibilities, paid or not.

networker050184

I disagree with basically everything you are saying but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

blargoe

ipconfig & others... When I said volunteering wasn't "professional" experience, I wasn't aiming to demean anyone's work or that one is being "unprofessional" in a negative context. Professional experience generally means being gainfully employed in a situation in which you are held accountable in some way to your posted job responsibilities. From an employer's point of view, a string of volunteer gigs just doesn't hold as much weight as paid employment for the same type of work. The same technical skillset may be used in both situations, sure, but it isn't always just about showing off how well you can set up a PC or configure a router.

For an example if you did unpaid work and deployed a large cisco based network and applied what you already knew and what you knew in your certifications, yeah that is professional experience.

For an example if you configured an isa server (not winging configuring it with best practices) and you didnt get paid for it and you have being there and done that and got the experience what difference does it make.

What kind of company is going to hand off their deployment of a large Cisco network or their production firewall to someone who is unproven and doesn't expect to get paid? Any projects of that nature would be resume-worthy, sure... but those types of deployments are extremely business critical and parties that have a proven track record will be the ones doing the work... and getting paid. I see people mention they are going to volunteer doing this kind of work... but to the original poster's question... has anyone here actually gotten permission to perform CCNA work or other admin/engineering stuff for a real company on a volunteer basis?

take it from someone who has done volunteer i.t work in the past and is still doing, it does count, it counts a lot and you get to learn heaps and heaps and it is real world skills.

I do agree with this, there is value and you can learn much. Stuff like giving your time to build computers for the needy like someone mentioned is good stuff too. I just don't agree that it fits in the same category as paid employment history.

My $.03...

blargoe

ipconfig.all

What I ment by that Cisco example was an example I know in the real world the project would be given to someone with real life huge cisco experience and I doubt they will do it for free, it was just an example Blargoe (not serious). Volunteering is a great way to get valuable experience which could lead into paid work in the future or better job opperunitinies but it isn't something that you would want to do for the rest of your life cause you need to pay the bills. It is good to do them when you are starting out in I.T, or if you have being unemployed for so long and wants to keep up to date.

blargoe

Another thing to keep in mind... if you try slide in free work as employment history, what is going to happen when references are checked? Either they will call the company, and the company will say that they have no record of your employment, or they will disclose that you were an unpaid intern or volunteer or whatever. A couple of people have mentioned not disclosing the work as volunteer, but it will be discovered at some point, usually... so be forthcoming and honest about it.

blargoe

ipconfig.all wrote: »

Volunteering is a great way to get valuable experience which could lead into paid work in the future or better job opperunitinies but it isn't something that you would want to do for the rest of your life cause you need to pay the bills. It is good to do them when you are starting out in I.T, or if you have being unemployed for so long and wants to keep up to date.

No disagreement with this statement.

ipconfig.all

Yeah when you finish your unpaid internship or the volunteer work experience, the manager will give you a written reference letter as proof that you actually worked there (depending on the company) it will most likely say you did work experience (which is the word they use when someone does volunteer or an unpaid internship etc) and they will most likely ring the manager to ask how you performed on the job what kind of tasks you did etc etc and to get more information you know just like any other type of reference. As long as you do not lie about the work you did there (paid or not) and if you actually worked there (paid or not) then that is fine just like everything else work is work. It is not like you are putting some random company there and saying you did this and that, now that would be dishonest.

blargoe wrote: »

Another thing to keep in mind... if you try slide in free work as employment history, what is going to happen when references are checked? Either they will call the company, and the company will say that they have no record of your employment, or they will disclose that you were an unpaid intern or volunteer or whatever. A couple of people have mentioned not disclosing the work as volunteer, but it will be discovered at some point, usually... so be forthcoming and honest about it.