5 Simple Ingredients to Improve Your Nonprofit Resume
Use action verbs for a better reaction. Be sure each bullet in your Professional Experience section starts with an action verb or adverb. Research action verbs in the nonprofit or social enterprise industry and use them strategically.
Selling through spelling! Proofread your resume at least three times. Have a friend, colleague or career coach review it as well. You sell yourself more effectively when you spell correctly.
Prioritize and organize your bullets. Review the top five responsibilities of the job for which you are applying and highlight your achievements accordingly. Move the most important and targeted achievements to the top of the bulleted list.
Qualify, don’t mystify. Do not leave your prospective employer trying to guess how effective you were at a past job. Include hard statistics if possible. Did you increase donations by 30% or increase volunteer recruitment by 50%, for example? How did your efforts ultimately affect the outcome of the program?
Volunteer work is part of your career. Where is your volunteer experience highlighted on your resume? It should either be the first thing listed under your Experience (if you are making a transition from for-profit to nonprofit) or intertwined with your nonprofit experience (if you have paid nonprofit experience).
