At the job post · 6 min read
How do I put projects and volunteering on my CV?
Treat projects and volunteering like jobs: a title, dates, what you did and what changed. Where to put them, and when they belong above paid work.
The short answer
Put projects and volunteering on your CV the same way as paid work: a clear title, the organisation or context, dates, and two or three bullets on what you did and what changed. If they're more relevant to the job than your paid roles, put them in a 'Relevant experience' section above your work history. Unpaid work is still evidence, and employers read it that way.
Key takeaways
- Unpaid doesn't mean less relevant; relevance decides where it goes.
- Give each project or role a title, dates and results, like any job.
- A 'Relevant experience' section can sit above paid work.
- Link to anything people can see: a site, a repo, a report.
- Volunteering is especially strong for career changers and early careers.
On this pageTreat each one like a job
Treat each one like a job
| Vague | CV entry |
|---|---|
| Volunteer at a food bank | Volunteer shift lead, North Leeds Food Bank, 2024 to present: run Saturday shifts of 8 volunteers and the stock rota |
| Made a website | Built a booking site for a local dog groomer in Webflow; she now takes most bookings online |
| Helped with a charity event | Organised a 5k fun run for 120 runners, raising about £3,000 for a hospice |
Where to put them
- Career change: 'Relevant experience' at the top, holding projects and volunteering in the new field.
- Early career: a 'Projects' or 'Volunteering' section beside work history.
- Technical roles: a 'Projects' section with links, often right after the summary.
- Experienced and on-track: a short section near the end, if it adds something.
Show it, don't just say it
Projects have a big advantage over most jobs: people can look at them. Add a link to the site, the code, the report or the portfolio piece. A recruiter who clicks and sees real work has more reason to call you than one who reads another bullet.
Choose projects with the job in mind
Pick projects that use the skills the post asks for. If you're short of one, a small project can close the gap: a two-week piece of real work aimed at a must-have, finished and written up. That's better evidence than a course certificate on its own, because it shows you can use the skill.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, rewrites your CV for the post you have open, in the post's own words and order. Every change is checked against the CV you gave it, so it never adds a skill, a number or a job you don't have. You download it as a PDF or Word file.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- Does volunteering help you get a job?
- It can. A 2013 study for the Corporation for National and Community Service, now AmeriCorps, found volunteers in the US had higher odds of finding work than non-volunteers. More practically, volunteering gives you real examples for a CV and interview in a field where you have no paid history yet.
- Where should projects go on a CV?
- Wherever relevance puts them. If a project proves the job's main skill better than your paid work, put a 'Relevant projects' section near the top. If it's supporting evidence, put it after work experience. For technical roles, a projects section is often expected.
- Can personal projects count as experience?
- Yes, if they're real and finished. A small app people use, a blog with regular posts, an analysis of public data with a written finding: each shows skill and initiative. Describe what you made and any result, and link to it.
- How much detail should I give for a project?
- Two or three lines: what it is, what you did, what came of it. 'Built a budgeting spreadsheet for a youth football club, now used by its treasurer to track £8,000 a year in subs and kit costs.' Save the full story for the interview.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Volunteering as a Pathway to Employment · AmeriCorps (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Skills-based CV example · Prospects (Jisc), UK graduate careers service
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.