<p>I went to a public high school in a very well known county. The county required all hs students to complete 60 volunteer hours as a graduation requirement, and gave awards to those who greatly exceeded the requirement. </p>
<p>As a result, I kept an exact count on the number of hours I volunteered. I had a pretty high number and got awards for it and hence put the number on my resume. </p>
<p>Now in college, however, I have shown my resume to some people and they find it very odd and (from their reactions, in rather poor taste) to put the hours volunteered on there. Counselors and teachers in my high school seemed impressed and encouraged putting the numbers on there. It was a very highly ranked high school too, so the counselors generally knew what they were talking about and gave good advising. Maybe college is much different when it comes to these things..</p>
<p>What are your opinions? Should I remove it? How else can one emphasize the amount of time one has dedicated to volunteering?</p>
<p>I modify my resume to fit the job I'm applying. If you are applying to a research position, no one gives a crap if you volunteered for 1000 hours.</p>
<p>though norcalguy is correct, i don't think his answer gets to the heart of what you are asking....</p>
<p>you need to realize that the college application process is probably the last time anyone will ever care how many hours you volunteered. </p>
<p>another major point is that the quicker you are able to drop high school activities from your resume the better! by the end of your sophomore year in college your resume shouldn't have any HS activities at all.</p>
<p>i agree with those who told you that it is in bad taste to mention the number of hours you volunteered on your resume.....I think it'd be ok to take a line or two to mention the award you received and put down the volunteer activity as experience if it is relevant to the job you are applying . Beyond the dates during which you participated in it, there should be no other mention of time the time you put into it.</p>
<p>I'd assume that means that by 2nd year university, you should have done even more things and that you no longer need to list things you did in high school to fill space (assuming those activities haven't been carried/continued on through college)</p>
<p>I think your posts are all helpful but they seem to be straying from my question. I realize there comes a point when HS activities are no longer relevant. But what I am asking is if you have volunteered tons of hours, how do you emphasize that on a resume? </p>
<p>I am sure you could talk about it in an interview or cover letter but sometimes all people ask for initially is a resume. And with a resume alone, how could someone highlight the amount of volunteering they have done, especially if different numbers of hours have been accumulated with many different organizations?</p>
<p>What they're trying to tell you is: there is no way, because it's not proper to do so. "Hours" are a very constrained way of looking at things. Emphasize what you did -- not how long it took you to do it.</p>
<p>You shouldn't really be emphasizing anything from your high school career if you are in college. Yes, if you are still a freshman (I'm assuming you are), then your resume may still contain a few awards and activities from high school, but your emphasis should be on what you are doing now. If you really want to emphasize volunteering, volunteer a lot in college.</p>
<p>The situation is similar to someone who gets a perfect score on the ACT or SAT putting it on their college resume. Yes, it's a great accomplishment and you should be proud, but once you get to college, the playing field is basically leveled and no one really cares how great you were in high school.</p>
<p>But if you want to still have it on your resume, the best way is to put the award. You said:
[quote]
The county required all hs students to complete 60 volunteer hours as a graduation requirement, and gave awards to those who greatly exceeded the requirement.
[/quote]
so just write about the award and be done with it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if you have volunteered tons of hours, how do you emphasize that on a resume?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>the resounding answer so far has been "you don't!" ...unfortunately its not the answer you want to hear, but it's the correct one</p>
<p>and you brought up cover letters and interviews....the same rules apply to those as to the resume. </p>
<p>in college and beyond, volunteering is viewed as goodwill....a donation of your time.... and if you are trying to take credit for every second of good will you did then it'll come off as cheap and ultimately be worthless. However there is no crime in mentioning experiences or skills you gained from the volunteer activity or saying what you learned.</p>
<p>
[quote]
shraf, i guess i was asking if it's ok to continue things that you did in HS (ie continue a job or volunteer position)?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>oh....of course you can....but when u go to college i think moving on to bigger and better things might be in order....but if u do in fact continue an activity from HS into college you should certainly put it down on your resume etc</p>