How to Write about volunteer experience on your resume

Most high school students and those already in the workforce understand the importance
of volunteer experience on their resumes when interviewing for a job. In fact, a 2016 Deloitte Impact Survey found that 82% of over 2500+ hiring managers prefer candidates who have volunteering experience. After spending a week interviewing high school students for a summer internship position, I noticed one striking commonality among nearly all of their resumes: each candidate listed substantial volunteer experience, but it was hidden among seemingly less important extracurricular activities. When I started to dig deeper with each candidate during the interview, many had interesting experiences in their volunteer work that correlate well to the business world, but these experiences were not well conveyed simply through the formatting on their resumes. So how do those new to the work force effectively write about volunteering on their resume? 
Oftentimes, people who are new to the work force think that volunteer experience should be separate from work experience on their resumes. They decide to list it generally within their extra-curricular activities, and it becomes perceived by the interviewer as something you might have participated in a couple of times along with your other clubs and hobbies. However, you should use your volunteer experience to highlight the skills that you have. Your volunteer experience can go in your experience section, or if your work experience section is lengthy, then you can list it in its own dedicated volunteer-work section. If you are going to list your volunteer experience in your experience section, try your best to not list every single volunteer experience you have in that section. Rather, chose to list those opportunities that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. If your volunteer experiences aren’t relevant to the job you’re applying for, you should list them in a separate section labeled “volunteer experience”. 
Once you have decided which section your volunteer work will go, you can use the general job description formatting that you would use in a work experience section. Here is an example: 

1. List your volunteer work on your resume as if it were actual work experience  
2. Name of the organization you volunteered for 
3. Location of the organization
4. Your title 
5. The time frame you volunteered there 
6. A bulleted list explaining what you accomplished as a volunteer 
7. Use numbers to quantify your achievements

​While having volunteer experience is necessary for a resume, what is even more critical is displaying the work that you did as a volunteer in a way that shows the type of worker you are. This can be extremely beneficial for high school students as it is likely that they might have more volunteer experience than work experience. When you format your volunteer experiences the same way that you would your work experiences, it shows that you take every position seriously. This simple tip can separate you from the rest of your peers interviewing for the same position.