When you put the experience on your CV, write the organisation's name and your task description, not just "I volunteered", and give concrete results: how many people you reached, how many activities you ran, in which language you worked. The page below is for volunteers in the European Solidarity Corps (ESC). The bullet points below have blanks in square brackets, so you fill them with your own facts. Our guide on the Europass CV explains the whole CV.
Last updated: November 2026.
How do you write ESC on your CV?
Write the organisation's name and your task description, not just "I volunteered", and give concrete results: how many people you reached, how many activities you ran, in which language you worked. Include volunteering and project experience (social responsibility projects, community work, youth exchanges), saying briefly what you did, which skills you developed and what you learned. Include education and work experience, including jobs, internships and volunteering, with the tasks you did and what you learned. Include skills: languages and level, digital skills, and social skills such as teamwork, communication and leadership. Our guide on the Europass CV explains each section.
Which skills can you name?
You can name the skills volunteers gain in an ESC project:
🗣️ Language: a foreign language used as a tool in daily life, not as a lesson.
🌍 Intercultural competence: sharing a home and work with volunteers from other countries.
🏠 Independent living: cooking, managing a budget, handling official matters and solving problems alone.
💼 Professional experience: experience in real organisations such as associations, schools, social service centres, environmental organisations and cultural centres.
📋 Project and organisation skills: many volunteers organise their own small activity (a workshop, a show, a campaign).
🧭 Self-knowledge: what you like, what you cannot do, how you act under pressure.
The eight key competences used in Youthpass are multilingual competence; personal, social and learning to learn competence; citizenship competence; entrepreneurship competence; cultural awareness and expression competence; digital competence; mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering; and literacy competence. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate, and our guide on the benefits of ESC explains what you gain.
What do the bullet points look like?
The bullet points look like the examples below, which are templates: replace every square bracket with your own facts.
✅ Task: [Your task] at [organisation name], as a European Solidarity Corps volunteer.
✅ People reached: Reached [how many] people through [which activities].
✅ Activities: Ran [how many] [workshops, shows or campaigns], working in [which language].
✅ Skills: Developed [skill] by [what you did].
✅ What you learned: Learned [what you learned] while doing [your task].
✅ Language: Used [language] in daily life for [shopping, explaining something to a colleague, talking to a doctor].
Our guide on from ESC volunteer to career shows how the experience leads to work.
How does Youthpass help on your CV?
You can use your Youthpass to write your CV. Youthpass is not a diploma or a professional qualification and does not bring a job or recognition on its own; its value is that it makes your learning structured and easy to explain. Our guide on Youthpass on your CV explains where to write it, and our guide on recognition of Youthpass and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) explains how it is recognised.
Frequently asked questions
Does ESC go under work experience or volunteering?
Both: include education and work experience, including jobs, internships and volunteering, with the tasks you did and what you learned. Include volunteering and project experience (social responsibility projects, community work, youth exchanges), saying briefly what you did, which skills you developed and what you learned.
Do employers recognise Youthpass?
Yes: Youthpass and ECTS are recognised in practice by employers and universities.
Should I add a photo?
Yes: a CV in your own language, longer than two pages, without a photo or badly organised weakens the application. Our guide on the Europass CV covers the format.
What should you do next?
Our guide on whether Erasmus+ helps your career looks at the career side, and our guide on what to do after your project covers the steps after you return. The Youth Works Hub pages below cover the rest.
Related pages: the Europass CV · Youthpass on your CV · from ESC volunteer to career · whether Erasmus+ helps your career · what to do after your project
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
