Should You Include an Unpaid Position on Your Resume
If an unpaid position demonstrates skills that are required in the target job or fills a gap in work history, it should be included on a resume. Volunteer positions, unpaid internships and pro bono projects all count, and each is listed with its actual title, dates and results.
What Is an Unpaid Position on a Resume?
An unpaid position is a position held without wages that shows work skills. Examples include food bank volunteer coordinator, marketing intern at a nonprofit, and pro bono web designer for a local charity.
Below is a table of 4 types of unpaid positions, along with an example title and label used on a resume.
Does an Unpaid Position Belong on a Resume?
Yes. An unpaid position belongs on a resume when it advances the job seeker’s objective. Studies show that volunteering is correlated with a better chance of getting a job.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps, analyzed 10 years of Census Bureau data on more than 70,000 job seekers age 16 and older. Compared with non-volunteers, unemployed people who volunteered were 27% more likely to be employed at the end of the year. The odds rose 51% for those without a high school diploma and 55% for those living in rural areas. The study estimates the odds of volunteering and of employment. It does not count resume listing.
According to the NACE Job Outlook 2022 survey, employers rate internship experience in the employer’s industry at 4.3 out of 5 and general work experience at 3.7 when selecting among equally qualified candidates. The ratings table does not have a separate figure for unpaid roles.
When Does an Unpaid Position Help a Resume?
5 ways an unpaid position can help your resume:
The position uses skills listed in the job posting.
The job fills a gap in dates of employment.
Applicant has little paid experience.
The applicant is changing careers. The role builds skills in the new field.
Leadership - This might involve supervising volunteers or managing a budget.
Even applicants with limited paid experience format the entire document with the entry-level resume examples.
When Does an Unpaid Position Add Little to a Resume?
A volunteer position is not helpful unless it relates to the job you want. There are three options:
The role is unrelated to the target job and has no transferable skills.
It ran the job for a few days, and produced no measurable output.
The resume has enough relevant paid positions to fill the page.
Where Does an Unpaid Position Go on a Resume?
If the role is community based, it goes in the Volunteer Experience section. If the role is significant and relevant, it goes in the Work Experience section.
In the table below you can see 4 placement options for an unpaid position, the condition for each and an example of a section heading.
How Is an Unpaid Position Written on a Resume?
An unpaid position is written in the same format as a paid job, in 5 steps:
Please use the actual position titles, such as Volunteer Coordinator or Marketing Intern.
Organization name and dates are in one consistent Month, Year format.
Start each bullet with an action verb, such as organized, trained, or managed.
Add numbers to each bullet. Ex: number of hours, number of people served, amount of money raised.
Copy keywords from the job posting.
The report by Jobscan in 2026 found 487 of 500 Fortune 500 companies (97.4%) use a detectable applicant tracking system (ATS), which filters candidates by skills, job titles and keywords. In a 2018 eye-tracking study by Ladders, recruiters spent an average of 7.4 seconds per resume, and were more likely to focus on simple layouts with clear section and job headers.
What Are Examples of Unpaid Position Entries?
Below are three examples of a volunteer position, an unpaid internship, and a pro bono project. Figures are for illustration only.
Volunteer role:
Jan 2024 - Present
Volunteer Coordinator, Riverside Food Bank
45 volunteers assigned to 3 weekly distribution shifts
Provided food to 1,200 households per month
Provided training to 12 new volunteers on inventory and safety procedures
Unpaid internship:
Marketing Intern | Lakeview Animal Shelter | Jun 2025 - Aug 2025
Created 24 social media posts for 18k followers
Grew newsletter sign-ups by 15% over a 10-week period
Weekly campaign results reported in spreadsheet
Pro bono project:
Freelance Web Designer (Pro Bono) | Hope Community Center | March 2025 - May 2025
Developed a 6-page website using WordPress
Page load time decreased from 6.2 seconds to 2.4 seconds
added an online donation form that produced 38 gifts in the first month
How Is an Unpaid Position Listed When It Leads to a Paid Role?
If an unpaid position becomes a paid position within the same organization, it is counted as 2 separate entries or 1 stacked entry with separate dates. The formatting is in accordance with the rules of multiple positions on a resume.
Example of a stacked entry:
Foodbank Riverside
Operations Assistant | Mar 2025 - Now
Volunteer Coordinator | Jan 2024 - Feb 2025
People Also Ask
Is unpaid work experience valid on a resume?
Unpaid work experience is legit on a resume if the role demonstrates relevant skills and has an accurate title, dates and results.
Does volunteering improve job prospects?
Research from AmeriCorps found that, at the end of the year, unemployed volunteers were 27 percent more likely to have a job than those who did not volunteer.
How is an unpaid internship labeled on a resume?
You can label an unpaid internship with the role title, organization and dates. Optionally, you can add (Unpaid) after the title.
Where does a volunteer position go on a resume?
A volunteer position counts as Work Experience if it is relevant and under Volunteer Experience if it is community-based.
Can an unpaid position fill an employment gap?
An unpaid position with dates and duties can fill a gap in the timeline and show the skills used during that time.
What Does an Unpaid Position Add to a Resume?
An unpaid job gives three things to a resume: relevant skills, something to show for time between jobs, and measurable results. They are applicable if the title, dates and achievements are accurate and matched to the target job. The entry is structured in the Work Experience, Volunteer Experience or Projects section of the MyCVCreator resume builder.
