Is it possible to write about free work that you have done in your CV or does that not seem like legit work experience?
Charity design work, work for friends... etc
Replies11
- 100% if you interned or worked somewhere without being paid you can still include the experience and skills learnt during that period of time which may be relevant for the role you are applying for. You can tailor your cv depending on the role.
- Hi SushmitaIt’s important that you think of your CV as a ‘value exchange’ with your future employer rather than a record of achievement.In that way, all of your experience creates value which you can transfer directly to a business whether you were paid or not.It’s important to identify and clearly articulate that value however small it may feel. I get people to reframe things so that the value is talked about first before the experience.For example, if you worked on a client design project for free, what did you learn? What did you observe? How did it build up your broader experience?If you worked with senior designers and sold your work into them, that can be reframed as ‘built stakeholder engagement skills’ - if you learnt some new design tools ‘engaged student of new techniques’All of these added up and in context will contribute strongly to your CV and create the kind of ‘value exchange’ conversations you want to be having vs listing the work you’ve done.Good luck and Stay Boom!S
- Echo the general commentary here - 100% - if it's relevent then you should definitely include it. A CV should give a good sense of your experience and who you are, and that isn't necessarily just about what you've been paid for. Hope that helps, Alexandra x
- Anything that states your case is good to add. This is particularly important for recent graduates that don't have any work experience. So anything that you have done and proves the skills you are mentioning in your CV, is good to have in there.
- Always include this.This is how I built my CV/Portfolio in the early days, so I had a lot of work to show and breadth of different work areas.It shows iniative and drive, two key things I always look for.
- If it's proper work I would include it in the main stream, but tagged as "pro bono" if it's for a legitimate charity.Keep in mind that your CV needs to be short and to the point. Be selective in what you put in. I don't have time to waste on a CV. Give me the facts I need to know on the first page.
- @Morphe Digital Design Thanks a lot for this! There seems to be a skill in every encounter, interaction and work and I definitely need to do some digging on my experiences and highlight my best qualities to my prospective employers.
- @Geoffrey Bunting thank you! That makes sense!
- That is an absolute work experience <3
- Wether it's paid or unpaid, experience is experience!
- You can include a volunteering part of your CV, preferably separate from your actual work experience. It still counts as work experience of course, but it’s just better to delineate everything clearly.
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