Writing a resume can be overwhelming for many job seekers – after all, your resume may be your ticket to that dream job. But how can job seekers craft a resume to stand out among thousands of applicants? How do you present yourself in just one page, highlighting the best parts of your experiences?
With attention-grabbing headings and a neat presentation, you will start on the right track. If you aim for relevance, you can write a persuasive argument that will wow nonprofit hiring managers who will want to learn more about you. Keep reading to understand how to write a resume for nonprofit hiring managers so they remember yours from the stack.
Research Your Nonprofit Resume First
To gain a genuine understanding of someone, it’s necessary to put yourself in their position and see things from their perspective. As a job seeker looking for a nonprofit role in SoCal, you need to understand the organization. Each organization has challenges that affect how they work towards their mission. Job seekers should be familiar with the social issues impacting the work, and the cultural, political, and economic challenges facing the mission before applying for a job.
Nonprofits face unique challenges in finding suitable candidates. Consider this: There’s a nationwide workforce shortage.
About 74.6% of nonprofits report job vacancies that involve interacting with the public. You need to empathize with the situation to stand out from the competition. Try seeing the conditions from their perspective and communicate how you can help.
At a minimum, you should ask yourself these questions:
- Do my passions align with the nonprofit’s mission?
- Do I see myself fitting in with their office culture?
- While the work may be rewarding, can I do it long-term?
If you need nonprofit resume tips to make your resume stand out, start with thorough research. Don’t pad your documents with platitudes pulled from the job description. Make sure your skills line up with expectations.
Structure Your Nonprofit Resume for Readability
Writing a nonprofit resume is easier with the right approach. First, your resume should be easy to read. You should limit your sentence length, use bullet points, and keep paragraphs short. Use a resume format specific to your needs to pass an Applicant Tracking System. Try one of these main formats:
- Chronological Resume: A chronological resume makes sense for job seekers with a consistent career. If you’ve spent many years in the same industry, the organization will see the value in your experience.
- Functional Resume: This format focuses on the education section and relevant skills. It works for job seekers who are changing jobs or have spotty employment history.
- Combination Resume: A collaboration of chronological and functional resumes highlighting your experience and relevant skills.This flexible format leaves less room for volunteer work.
Nonprofit resume tips for a readable structure
Creating a professional header and formatting can greatly affect how a hiring manager views your resume. Include your contact information and social profiles in a neat summary at the top of the document. Having this information will help employers relate to you as a person and a professional.
Here’s how to write a resume for a job for easy scanning:
- Use a standard font size of 10 to 14 points
- Avoid using italics, shadows, symbols, or underlines for effect
- Avoid graphics, boxes, and confusing lines
- Use acronyms and jargon specific to the industry or nonprofit
Use proofreading tools or a trained eye to spot mistakes
There’s nothing more embarrassing than giving your document full of grammatical errors to a hiring manager. While tools like Grammarly exist and work well, you could get someone you trust to proofread it for you. Everyone makes mistakes.
Just make sure that you send a resume you’re proud of.
State Your Strengths Clearly in Your Nonprofit Resume
Learning how to apply for a nonprofit role isn’t always straightforward. What did you accomplish in your past roles? Did you lead a team to organize a successful fundraising event for a local charity? Or did you develop an innovative social media strategy for a campus club that increased membership by 30%? Don’t just state what you did — quantify your accomplishments to give a clearer picture of your potential impact.
Summarize your past experiences
Remember, clarity and organization are your best friends when structuring your resume. Only focus on the most relevant information for the role. Try sticking to your last positions, volunteer activities, or hobbies that align with their mission. Remember to leave out controversial topics or political views unless directly relevant to the job.
Nonprofit hiring managers state what they’re looking for in the job description. Use your resume to give them the answers they need right out of the gate. List your technical skills and expand on your experiences in the context of your previous roles.
Don’t Forget to Highlight Your Soft Skills
When working in the nonprofit sector, your soft skills can make you stand out as much as, if not more than, your hard skills. The needs of a business rarely stay the same. A nonprofit professional who can remain fluid and go with the flow is priceless.
Soft skills can translate to:
- Effective Communication
- Creative Problem-solving
- Organizational Prowess (good time management)
- Leadership Skills (Empathy, growth mindset, able to teach/train)
Employers want someone with soft skills because they aren’t job-specific. Candidates with solid soft skills are adaptable and provide employers with the flexibility they want. If soft skills are your weakness, there are ways to develop them.
Usually, job seekers pick these skill sets up naturally in volunteer work and on-the-job training. Even some job training programs cover soft skills. For instance, candidates could gain transferable skills that nonprofits want through a Certified Nonprofit Professional program.
Candidates should do more than just list these talents in their resume. Make them meaningful to the nonprofit hiring manager by addressing them in your cover letter or interview. Offer some relevant experiences to show you’re not just claiming to have these skills.
Mention your volunteer experience
Adding volunteer experience to your resume is another way to show commitment to a nonprofit’s cause. It convinces potential employers that you’re not just looking for any job – you’re passionate about their specific mission. It also provides more insight into your soft skills and gives credibility to your statements.
The nonprofit hiring managers need to see that you held a voluntary position and had an impact. So, here is an excellent place to discuss the results of your achievements in your resume.
Can you collaborate effectively with others?
The nonprofit sector involves working with a variety of stakeholders. How you perform in a consensus-driven environment will set you apart. Your ability to collaborate with different groups couldn’t be more critical here. Ask yourself:
- Can I manage projects with minimal resources?
- Can I collaborate effectively with all stakeholders?
- Can I thrive in this environment?
Will you relocate for the role?
The demanding nature of the nonprofit sector means that job flexibility could improve your hiring chances. The pandemic shook the foundations of the workplace nationwide, leaving companies to scramble and figure out the best response. One of the job seekers’ top three motivators for new positions is having flexible working arrangements.
Despite work changing over the past few years, there is a disconnect in what nonprofit organizations can offer. Flexibility and hybrid schedules are difficult to accommodate. As a job seeker, understanding and being willing to relocate or work in-person will make you stand out.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to make your resume stand out to nonprofit hiring managers demands more than ticking off a list of credentials. It’s about establishing a heartfelt connection to your desired organization’s mission. Coupled with a unique mixture of soft skills and adaptability, your resume should narrate a compelling story about you.
Remember, nonprofits want passionate people who can adapt, inspire, and make a difference. These organizations need strong leaders who collaborate effectively with stakeholders and team members. Ultimately, nonprofit managers need someone who will go the extra mile and remain flexible even as needs change. Your resume is your first impression, an appetizer to the main course. Put your most relevant skills front and center, and let your strengths do the talking.
