Impact Society and Your First Resume

Education isn't enough to impress potential employers. We provide leadership training and engage students in volunteer work designed to build a record of leadership, communication, critical thinking, and other soft skills employers value. We make experiential learning more accessible to help students become stronger job candidates.

Why It Matters

97% of employers surveyed said that soft skills were either as or more important than hard skills.

HR leaders report soft skills are key in setting apart ideal job candidates from adequate ones - especially when recruiters are deciding among applicants with similar work and education experience.  

Only 4 in 10 students gain an internship and 63% of seniors who missed out wanted one.

Employers report that they are 85% more inclined to look past resume issues or gaps if the applicant's biography includes volunteer work. Research shows it can increase your odds of employment by 27%.

Service-learning partners are a good job reference like that of a boss or professor.

Access to partners via service-learning courses is limited. However, finding your own partners demonstrates initiative and can lead to a quality job reference. Plus, the implied soft skills will impress employers. 

How It Works

Step 1: Leadership Training

Complete online training to learn:

  • why improving student success matters
  • the impact student volunteers can make
  • how to leverage your personal assets
  • how to target and develop soft skills

Step 2: Experiential Learning

Access support for volunteer work and resume building whenever you want to: 

  • earn service hours that build soft skills 
  • add community service to a class project
  • connect with service-learning partners

Step 3: Personal Development

Conclude all volunteer work with a reflection activity designed to help you:

  • see your impact and personal growth
  • add volunteer work to your resume 
  • build experience stories for interviews

Our Practice Field

PeerTakes

Signaling That Student Engagement Matters

Sharing life stories and information with younger students you share a connection with through school or student activities to help them see how their student engagement today can impact their future in ways that can make life easier or harder.

Soft Skills: empathy leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, networking, interpersonal skills

Campus Collabs

Collaborating to Improve Student Support and Success

Work with campus partners, community organizations, or education and workforce development leaders to create or support projects that enhance student success and help your school or campus organization make a collective impact on this challenge.

Soft Skills: leadership, problem solving, critical thinking, networking, collaboration, teamwork, communication, work ethic

Teach it Back

Helping Students Become Stronger Job Candidates

Learn how to use labor market data, resume tools, and new common languages building with the shifts to skill-based hiring and lifelong learning to tailor your resume and prepare for job interviews. Then show other students how to do the same.

Soft Skills: empathy leadership, communication, problem solving, adaptability, work ethic 

Ethan, Marshall Universtity, Senior

I seek advice from succesful people every chance I get.  Focusing on leadership and other soft skills is often suggested. Knowing most students from my small town don't envision themselves going to college motivated me to become a PeerTakes mentor. I also found an opportunity to help freshman engineering students develop crucial exam prep strategies when I was a senior. I like helping younger students succeed while working to develop my leadership skills.

PeerTakes Projects Added to My Resume

  • Earned ServeFully Leadership Training certificate
  • Gained valuable leadership and soft skill experience through ongoing involvement in mentoring activities.
  • Collaborated with former high school coaches, teachers, and staff to create mentoring opportunities.
  • Motivated former teammates to focus on acadmic success by sharing challenges college athletes face.
  • Demonstrated empathy and understanding by sharing my story of pursuing higher education despite the low expectations for students in our community.
  • Organized and led a study group to help freshman engineering students develop exam prep strategies.

Emily, IUPUI, Graphic Design Major

Although it wasn't required, I wanted my capstone project to invlove community service or make a social impact. A ServeFully coach became my service-partner and we collaborated with my advisor to define the scope of work for the topic "redesigning the service-learning experience for students".

Campus Collab Project Added to My Resume

  • Built social impact into capstone project.
  • Fostered positive relationship with a service partner.
  • Collaborated with advisor and service partner to define scope of work.
  • Researched campus data and designed a data collection tool.
  • Interviewed professors, administrators, and students across campus.
  • Compiled data and delivered findings in a poster format.
  • Contributed to the design of volunteer-based experiential learning opportunities by surfacing the characteristics students want to see.

Luke, Marshall University, Senior

I was concerned about not having any work or internship experience on my resume to compliment my education. A ServeFully coach pointed me toward a free resume optimization tool designed by education and workforce development leaders to smooth the shift to skills-based hiring. I practiced optimizing my resume and then taught other students how to use it.

Teach It Back Project Added to My Resume

  • Supported work of Open Skills Network and Lightcast to address labor market challenges surrounding the shift towards skills-based hiring.
  • Trained how to use a free resume tool being piloted to help facilitate the use of a common skills-based language for job postings, course syllbi, and resumes.
  • Fostered relationships with campus administrators and local employers to help sponsor a career fair booth.
  •  Demonstrated using the tool to tailor resumes for specific job titles to the skills job postings are demanding.
  • Helped 68 students learn how to surface skills experience they may have gained in class or find missing skills to add to be more competitive.

The ultimate volunteer work experience for busy students who want to reach their personal goals.

Impactful

Increasing student engagement and success is one of our country's greatest challenges. It is also the space where student volunteers can draw on personal experience to hone their critical thinking skills. The education related projects we facilitate empower students to align volunteer work with skills they need to develop.

Meaningful

Student volunteers possess valuable insight that can help younger students avoid pitfalls and find success. When student volunteers serve schools and students they share a connection with, they maximize their impact and stay motivated to practice soft skills and bank experience stories that will impress potential employers.

Personally Rewarding

Compelling, accessible, and designed to grow with our students are hallmark features of the volunteer work we facilitate. Our unique practice field and coaching support make it easy for students to connect with service partners, do impactful work, and keep gaining valuable experience whenever it aligns with their busy schedules, course work, or personal goals. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

We offer leadership training and coaching support on both a group and individual basis. Scholarships are often available to students who are not receiving free or discounted tuition via a school or organization that is sponsoring their participation.

How are your coaches selected and qualified?

Our coaches are carefully selected based on their qualifications, experience, and specific areas of interest. The unique perspectives they gained through their own successes or failures connect them to the education projects they facilitate or the students they coach. Each coach undergoes a rigorous screening process and in-depth training to ensure they meet our high standards. They collaborate with other coaches to stay informed and ensure they are steering their students to the ultimate service work opportunities.

Is the volunteer work in-person or online?

Volunteer work can be performed in-person and online, allowing students to choose the format that best suits their needs and preferences. PeerTakes requires partnering with a teacher, principal, athletic coach, or club leader who can arrange a virtual or in-person visit. Whether a Campus Collabs or Teach It Back project is in-person or online is totally up the student who is designing or joining a project. Creating volunteer opportunities that are accessible and flexible are always our top goal.

What is the process for matching students with coaches?

If your enrollment is sponsored by a school, athletic department, fraternity, sorority, or other student organization, they will have already arranged for a well-aligned coach to work with the students in your group. All students complete a survey prior to their initial coaching session. Based on the specific needs, challenges, and learning goals they express, our direct enrollment students are matched with a coach who is best suited to facilitate their success. Our goal is to create a personalized and effective learning experience for every student.

Make an impact–become a ServeFully coach today!

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