[dmlorenzetti]

Don't discount your volunteer work, especially if you have done it as a young adult (i.e., from personal conviction rather than due to home/school pressure). A lot of people will take that as a sign of emotional maturity, thoughtfulness, or conviction.

I heard through the grapevine, many years after the fact, that during salary discussions at an outfit that was planning to make me an offer, there was a small debate about how many years of experience to credit me. By the calendar, I had $y$ years of work since graduation, but in terms of job experience it was $y - 2$ years, due to time I spent in Peace Corps. The difference affected the salary range their internal guidelines indicated I could be offered.

Finally one of the PIs cajoled the "y-2" crowd, saying, effectively, Come on, he spent two years teaching math in a village with no electricity and no running water...