I figure it will be at the bottom under "Volunteer Service", but how do I present it?
I would put Civil Air Patrol: USAF Auxiliary, years of service, city and state, and your pertinent milestone awards. Anything else you can elaborate on in an interview or cover letter.
QuoteCivil Air Patrol, Palwaukee Composite Squadron
First Lieutenant
April 2003 - Present
Working with cadets between the ages of twelve to nineteen as part of the Cadet Programs
staff. Assigned as the Leadership Officer charged with mentoring cadets as well as the
Testing Officer in charge of administering progression exams and maintaining test security.
What I have now sans formatting.
I'd say it depends on your level of involvement, commitment, and whether your CAP experience is cross-relevant.
For those peripherally involved, something in the "affiliations" section or area, if you're more heavily involved, then it might be more prominent.
Certainly grade, years in, current assignments, major activities and decoration could be potentially included.
I listed my time as a PAO on my main experience section. Being in the marketing/advertising field, it was related to my overall body of work.
I list it under "Community Engagement" along with ARC (don't ask me why I call it that, I don't remember). Even if your CAP experience isn't necessarily relevant to your profession, showing that you are actively involved in civic organizations helps promote your image as a well-rounded person, and is a +1 over the other guys in the heap of resumes. I'd also recommend joining a professional organization, but that's neither here nor there.
From the perspective of somebody reading these things,
1) Have a community service (or community activities) section towards the back of the resume.
2) Don't assume your reader knows what awards mean -- if possible, explain in common terms (e.g., "Promoted to Cadet Officer" will be more meaningful than "Mitchell Award") -- avoid CAP-centric jargon at all costs.
3) Recognition (by selection or election) is far more important than mechanistic action, so "Elected to represent ..." or "Selected to attend ..." means more than "Completed ... " as the former two specifically represent vetting having taken place (successfully!).
4) If you _are_ selected to attend something that then needs to be completed, mention how well you did (e.g., "Selected to attend, and graduated with distinction, the Northeast Region Communications College." [Is there still a NE Reg. Comm. College?]
The point about joining professional societies is valid, but I'm of two minds on it, about what it really proves. I am a member of various societies because I have to be a member to present papers at their conferences, but membership is not what indicates the presentations: if you are doing that kind of thing you have a separate section of your resume on presentations and publications. Also, anyone can join, and while it does indicate interest and dedication (good things to show), being secretary or treasurer or editor of the newsletter -- especially if you have been elected to those positions -- means more than simply membership (but you have to start somewhere). I'm sorry to say that I usually ignore simple membership.
While we're off topic, another general note in resume prep is never overstate (or even hint at more than) what you can do. Back in May a candidate my boss and I interviewed had noted she had studied SAS(r) (program language): as I started to mention that "one of the gold standards of SAS programming is knowing ... " she says she doesn't really know SAS, but she took a class in it once. So what can she do? Nothing really. Then why bring it up?
One other thing to remember: you never have just one resume. Just like you have a unique cover letter specifically targetted for each application, be preparred to do the same for resumes, even if it just entails moving different things to the top line.
Good Luck!
I've read in a few places and even had a state dept. of employment person tell me that it should be listed in the timeline in cases where you've got a lapse in your history so that there is "continuity" and they see you've done something.
I did it under my "memberships and affiliations" subsection. Covered length of service, major awards, duty positions, and major responsibilities. It's more of an interesting talking point during interviews than anything else.
I also added it at the bottom of my resume under "Memberships" along with EAA, AOPA, PAMA, etc. CAP is listed first.
The other part is the flip side of that debate .. where even on CT, some in their roles as employers might look at that and decide it's a con towards hiring.
Personally, people who give to the community, supporting that, etc- are more like someone I'd want to work with, for me, etc. But to each his own. Though it does put a little bit of gamble in it, in the dog-eat-dog world. :(
The question then is, do you want to work for an employer that sees volunteer service as a negative?
My biggest issue, as someone just out of college is how a piece of paper gives someone so much worth. Compare making $8/ hour to $18+ basically overnight.
In my case, I'm coming up on five years of working in ecommerce. My role was such that it was basically running a startup on my own minus the actual ownership. I've learned a lot in the position, and had enough success to write up a good list of financial accomplishments but for the most part it simply doesn't factor into my Finance degree. So do I try for the entry level analyst jobs that pay 35-55k per year with the possibility that they don't choose me as "overqualified" and assuming I'll jump at another position if it shows up, or do I throw away the degree and look for work based on my work experience at this point? That's really the one thing college didn't prepare me for.
I list it after education and employment under "para-professional experience"
Work for someone that has a negative view of volunteer service? No way.
... like the first job I had, "why do you want to work on the ads now, we can do that at night!"
Are you paying me, "at night"?
Bzzzt. Wrong answer. I guess, yeah. Not getting the job due to volunteer service being listed might not be a Bad Thing.