Tech Tip: LinkedIn Volunteer Experience and Causes

As appraisers we try our best to keep our professional profiles up to date, and we also perform much volunteer work to assist in raising profiles and of course to give back to our communities and causes we assist and support. 

With that in mind, and that many appraisers now have a LinkedIn online profile, LinkedIn has not set up a new section where members can add volunteer experience and causes field to their LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn surveyed nearly 2,000 professionals and found 89% have volunteer experience yet many dont have it listed on resumes, thus the need to expand online professional profiles with the new section.

The following is from the LinkeIn press release. At the end of the press release are instructions on adding the volunteer section to a LinkedIn profile. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD - News), the world's largest professional network with more than 120 million members worldwide, today announced that members can now add a "Volunteer Experience & Causes" field to their LinkedIn Profile. The company also released data that reinforces volunteer work is a key piece of your professional identity.

A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10468
In the new "Volunteer Experience & Causes" field, LinkedIn members can add volunteer positions, causes they care about, and organizations they support. LinkedIn members can now list Big Brothers Big Sisters, DonorsChoose.org, Habitat for Humanity International, The Humane Society of the United States, Oxfam International, the American Red Cross, Teach for America or any other organization they support on their LinkedIn Profile.

LinkedIn surveyed nearly two thousand professionals in the U.S. and found that 89 percent of these professionals have personally had experience volunteering, but only 45 percent of professionals include their volunteer experience on their resume.

"Professionals often have the misconception that volunteer work doesn't qualify as 'real' work experience," said Nicole Williams, LinkedIn's Connection Director and best-selling author of the book, "Girl on Top." "You may be a sales person by trade, but if you organized your nonprofit's fundraising event, you can add skills, like event planning or event marketing, to your profile. Having those additional skills can potentially make you a more attractive employee and business partner."

In fact, 41 percent of the professionals that LinkedIn surveyed stated that when they are evaluating candidates, they consider volunteer work equally as valuable as paid work experience. Twenty percent of the hiring managers surveyed agree they have made a hiring decision based on a candidate's volunteer work experience.

"Given the current economic climate and the hypercompetitive job market, it's essential to include your volunteer work on your profile, " says Williams. "Even if you're currently unemployed, you can still actively volunteer and begin to accrue new skill sets. When hiring managers or business partners are comparing two people side by side, volunteer experience makes you a more multifaceted professional and can set you apart from the competition."
To add the "Volunteer Experience & Causes" field to your LinkedIn Profile:

• After logging in, click "Profile" at the top of LinkedIn.
• Click the "Add Sections" hyperlink.
• Select "Volunteer Experience & Causes."
• Click the "Add to Profile" button and then fill out the applicable fields.

View a screenshot of the new "Volunteer Experience & Causes" field and get more details on the impact volunteering can have on your career on the LinkedIn Blog: http://lnkd.in/profile-volunteer-field.