Does “volunteer” dilute senior-level scope on a CV

 Good afternoon,

I would value views on how this is interpreted in practice.

I am currently establishing an organisation-wide Learning and Development function within a branch of a national charity. The remit includes designing the learning architecture, leading rollout across 70+ staff, introducing evaluation frameworks, and implementing centralised tracking and governance processes. The scope operates at senior leadership level. The role is undertaken on an unpaid basis.

When presenting this on my CV under the role title and dates, does including the word “volunteer” risk unintentionally reducing the perceived seniority of the work at shortlisting stage?

Alternatively, would describing it as a pro-bono leadership role more accurately reflect the level of responsibility, or does the scope and impact of the work tend to carry more weight?

I am interested in how this is typically read at first sift.

Thank you,


Sheila

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  • I have been a Trustee/Non-Ex for a Community Benefit Society/NfP for over 18 years now and I wouldn't use the title 'volunteer'. I have also been a CIC director. I think pro-bono leadership role captures it well.  When shortlisting someone I would see it as an attribute and a quality. 

    Having said that my pro-bono experience has, on occasions, been diminished by others and I am told that helping an organisation running a public space can't be compared to a serious position - replying that the 'public space' is in fact over 100 spaces and the turnover is over £100M per annum tends to give me large satisfaction from a 'Dilbert' point of view (whatever did happen to Dilbert?). 

  • Sadly Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert died a few weeks ago :(

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