According to LinkedIn data, 41 percent of potential employers want to see that you volunteer in your free time.
"It shows that you're a passionate professional who's adept at multitasking," Krista Canfield, the senior PR manager of LinkedIn, told POPSUGAR. "It's also worth noting that you can develop new skills during your volunteer work which will help you become a multifaceted professional. You may be a sales person by trade, but perhaps you helped organize your non-profit's most recent fundraising event. Noting that experience, and the skills that you learned during that experience ("event planning," "event marketing," etc.) can make you a more attractive employee and business partner."
With increasing periods of time of unemployment, it's important to fill those gaps with volunteer work. Work outside your career field demonstrates a commitment to the greater good.
"People are wondering whether it's considered as legitimate as paid work experience," Carol Fishman Cohen said, the co-founder of career reentry programming company iRelaunch.com. "What we're hearing on the employer side is that if the volunteer experience is relevant to your career goal, include it."
