You always hear all of this stuff about the merits of volunteering in your career and being philanthropic and how employers love it. LinkedIn even goes as far as to claim that 1 in 5 hires are because of someone’s volunteer experience.
What does AF think? I find it hard to believe it will really add much value or that it belongs on a resume. (assuming of course that it is totally unrelated to finance ie not an unpaid internship or something) Perhaps I am being naive, but I feel like the employer is more self-serving and cares about what you are going to do to add value for them and not how much you help others in your free time.
If you are asking how it can help your career, it can help with networking. If you’re being very Machiavellian about this, then perhaps choose art and music events, because the wives of rich men often like to go for that stuff in order to be a socialite. Then you chat those women up and get them to introduce you to their husbands as someone looking to move up in the world. If their husbands don’t hire you, go ahead and seduce the wives.
If you do this consistently enough, the rich husband will know they’d best hire you as soon as the wife brings up your name, though you do run the risk that he’s trying to dump her and you provide the excuse. And there is a small possibility he may just hire a hit man to take you (and maybe her) out.
Kidding aside, this means that the bulk of the value it provides takes place before anyone ever sees your resume. As an item on the resume, it can be an interesting talking point during an interview, but unlikely to make a difference either way, except as a tie breaker.
someone pipe up if they disagree but my natural inclination is that if you’re volunteering
you should have spent that time doing something productive instead (working, studying for your CFA, training your subordinates)
you’re one of those insecure small-minded people that is upset with your lack of real success/experience and you just want to go around bragging that you “contributed”
I would only be impressed with volunteer work if it showed undeniable proof of leadership or the ability to achieve quantifiable results.
" I raised $800,000 to build a community sports center for the neighborhood’s youth" is a lot different from
" I serve bread at the local soup kitchen 2 hours a week to make myself feel good"
^Dude, WTF! That has got to be the biggest heap of garbage I’ve seen in a long time. Are you sure you’re not itera?
I volunteer plenty. I give money to good causes. I even helped a kid graduate high school a few years back after his father was murdered. These types of activities help out those less fortunate often through no fault of their own.
I always ensure my work is done correctly and completely. I have an MBA, CFA, BSD.
I’m far some anything you said.
I’ll also add that I don’t brag or mention these sorts of things often. I don’t use them as resume filler other than one bullet point under my interests. Volunteering is not used as a means in my corporate work, but it is a part of who I am as a person which I believe speaks to my character.
I’ll also add this. Often experience/credentials and volunteering are not mutually exclusive as the discussion seems to be going. All else equal, who would you hire?
The qualified dude who says he vacations in Mexico each year for MTV’s spring break as a 35 year old.
The qualified dude who says he takes a PTO week off each year for Habitat for Humanity?
I have a feeling qualified dude B would be more helpful around the workplace.
What about for admissions? Not that I’m likely to return to school anytime soon, but I am just realizing that I do nothing besides work, commute, gym, sleep, and I am worried I look like a very boring person on paper.
I believe in being a balanced person. It is part of my job description to sit on my ass all day, think and talk to people, so outside of work I like to do things that keep me in motion, sports, excercise, etc. Similarly, it is basically my job to be a skeptical, greedy person, so to me it is a relief to do something selfless and charitable. I wonder if it would work the other way…like if I worked full time in a soup kitchen I would start stealing soup and selling it.
Anyway, I don’t put any charitable endeavors on my resume in the same way I don’t put: proficient in golf, scuba certified, currenly a recreational soccer player (position center attacking midfield). Nobody cares. However, the more stuff you do the more people you meet and the more people you meet the wider your network becomes. Growing your network is always a good thing, but I don’t think it necessarily matters how you do it. Heck, at my old firm I used to get my but kicked by 45 year old PMs in squash, great networking experience however humiliating it was.
Why would you not put this stuff? What is your opinion on interests or community service on resume since you don’t put them? I was told it’s important to show you’re a well rounded person who has outside interests. It could give you something to connect with the interviewer and presents the type of person you are.
Maybe, but it has never helped me get a job. I think it is fine coming out of school, but after a few years just keep it to a page and list your accomplishments and duties. You can always drop that stuff in during the interview and they may think it’s cool, but nobody is getting past an HR screen on the extracurriculars section.
This reminds me of a not so pleasant experience a few years back. I once beat a BSD at my firm at tennis (something like 6-3, 6-1) and he took it really badly. Didn’t think people take these things so seriously especially that no one else witnessed the match. I was told afterwards to let people senior to you in the professional world to beat you but that’s just not in my blood. I’d rather meet over lunch than laydown in a competitive match.
No, the Guys I was playing against were from overseas and played since grade school and competitively most of their lives. I could run a lot, but really didn’t have a chance against an opponent that much more skilled.