Volunteer Work

[xiphirx]

I have not held any real job yet, but I have had quite a few volunteer jobs. Do volunteer jobs weigh as much as real jobs in a resume? Are they better?

As an employer (if you are or not) would you take someone who had 1 real job experience, or 3 volunteer job experiences?

I'm asking this because I am really trying to avoid being a cashier, but I feel like no one will look at my resume if I only have volunteer work. I'm trying to get a simple web design job, or something with websites since its easy work. I've worked on 2 websites voluntarily... Would that benefit me or hurt me?

I feel like it benefits me, but am still unsure, I though I would ask people who have actually held a real job

[TheBuzzSaw]

Assuming you don't have other "real" job experience to put there, yes, volunteer work is great. Everywhere I have interviewed, I was asked about my previous experiences regardless of where they came from. I've listed personal projects and had some awesome discussions with prospect employers about them.

Do volunteer jobs weigh as much as real jobs? No. Employers definitely prefer genuine employed experience, but that does not render your volunteer experience useless. Leverage what you can, and you'll do fine.

[Trask]

Basically most employers want to know what you've done with your downtime. Unemployed... did you sit around for 6 months doing absolutely nothing? That's bad... Unemployed for 6 months and you worked on all these projects or went out and did this and this... that shows enthusiasm and that you're a go getter.