Do you list your college degree?

[Publius]

I really meant no offense, just debating. I enjoy all your input here and really do appreciate all the work you do here to help out. I remember the cub scouts like way over 40 years ago, and my den mother was a very nice lady but the cub scout thing didn't last much and I never climbed the ranks for that organization. Funny how things turn out. Then I join the Marines to carry a gun.....hehehehe....XBOX? Honestly, I don't even know what that is. I don't have one. Is it for games or is it for watching movies. Gotta be one or the other. Again, no offense intended, just having fun on debating, don't mean to sound too opinionated, I value all you your inputs here as well as others.

Glad no one was offended and that no one meant offense. I actually don't play xbox or any of those gaming things. I try and limit my movie/tv intake by a good bit, when I do watch something there isn't anything like a good documentary. That's not to say I don't have fun, I do, I take CLEP tests (...jk!).
On a serious note, for filling in "blank spots" on a resume, I don't think that's a bad idea. Serving and helping isn't anything new to me, and it's good to hear that employers like that stuff.
I did want to say, as far as volunteering when you're old (or older), I'd rather do it when I'm young. It's not that you can't do it the other way around, but it's the youth that has the strength, energy, time, not as many strings, and other things that frees them up. At least, that's my $0.02.

[29palms]

There seems to be several schools of thought regarding what to put on resume's. I've been told before to NEVER leave anything out no matter how minoot the experience. There may be something there that shows that you have skills. Then again, why would you list that you pumped gas while attending college when applying for an engineering degree? Some may feel that while they pumped gas, they gained work experience, like how to deal with customers, how to run a cash register, how to keep things operational. Anything you do job related is noteworthy. I was communications in the military. I don't work for the phone company or with radio equipment, however, we do have communications on aircraft, and that is just one of many sub-components of the aircraft that we deal with. In the military, an MX6707 was an antenna matching unit. It matched the frequency of the radio waves to the antenna. On airplanes, the exact same thing is done only they call it an antenna COUPLER. The receiver transmitters we used in military vehicles, had knobs and dials on them. You could attach your handset to the RT. On airplanes, our RT's are in the equipment and electronic bay, far away from the pilots, but they interact with the RT from the cockpit using communications boxes that has the dials and buttons on them and where your headset attaches to it. You could do the same on armored vehicles in the military from the drivers hatch, by using the same communication boxes away from the RT's but they called them "Charlie boxes". Same principle, different configurations and different styles of radios. The armored vehicle radios were built to take lots of shock, whereas on an airplane, they are more delicate, not subject to constant vibration. So some of those previous military experiences did kind of cross into what I do now as an aircraft technician.

[29palms]

Incidentally, communications was quite interesting field. I don't know too many people that have a clue as to how a radio sitting in your living room works. Alot of people don't know anything about radio waves or propagation of them. If you are like most people, you hook up a pair of rabbit ears to a television set, move the antenna around to pick up the best reception possible, and that's that. In my field, we took that concept alot further into understanding what blocks radio waves and how to pick up the best reception and best success in transmission. I actually went to school for this for 3 months in MCCES MCAGCC in 29 Palms USMC base. Everything from water proofing radios, to field expedient antennas, to setting up various tactical antennas and perform preventive maintenance on them. Unfortunately, the military is the only real organization that uses radios for tactical purposes. Maybe the police or swat teams. I mean, anyone can talk on a radio, but the USMC Field Radio Operator goes into it in a different level. He must also write down messages in short hand, calculate zulu time, know about grids for calling in air strikes, keep radio watch in the field. It's more than humping a radio on you back. It involves establishing successful communications on all types of military vehicles and armored vehicles and in the field.
And then there is the RADIO TECHNICIANS. Those guys that get inside the box and change out things, troubleshoot them, repair them. That school is a year long. They get into electronics like changing resistors, capacitors, soldering, using test equipment. I've been told by those guys that it was boring. (I can do those things too but in today's world, everying is the computer chip now and very disposable.)
I have a technicians ham license and a Marine Radio Operators Permit. (MROP) but I seldom do the ham operator thing. I preferred listening to short wave radio. Getting kind of absolete with internet now. Short wave was great on a ship. Too bad they don't offer college credit for my skills in communications. They seem to offer it for far less studies.