Hobbies on your resume?

[Jeth 0]

Another post got me thinking about something. I am in the IT field. My resume is purely technical. Specific skills at the top, then education and experience. At the bottom I have professional memberships and certifications. I have never thought to put anything personal on there. When I was in college I had a bit of "fluff" just because I had no work experience. But since college, none of that.

But I saw some other people say they do. So now I'm thinking -- maybe a section like this (at the bottom):

"Interests and Hobbies:
* World Travel
* Photography
* Licensed Skydiver
* Member of American Coaster Enthusiasts
* Vice President of South Loop Dog Park Action Cooperative"

So should I? Any IT people have personal stuff on your resume?

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[yardhippie 0]

As a general rule you should not put any personal information on your resume.
If an interviewer is prohibited from asking about that information, you should not tell it.
This trend may have chaned since I was in a steady management position, but we were prohibited about asking ANY type of question that was not DIRECTLY realated to a person's work history or education.

It was just too large a risk for an employer.

just my .02.

Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

[SBS 0]

I would put things that show personality, but not too much... Especially the thing about the vp of doggie lovin. That shows structure and responsibility. The skydiving thing, you can throw in if you feel like it when you see who you are interviewing with. That's what I did, and turned out that he used to jump in the military and it gave me an in...otherwise, it could have been sent to a hardass who would have trashed it cause they saw me as "irresponsible". Doesn't really matter what the reality is, just their immediate perceptions.

-S

_____________
I'm not conceited...I'm just realistic about my awesomeness...

[Keith 0]

I would avoid putting personal information on my resume. You never know when the most innocent of activities will touch a negavie cord with a potential interviewer.

Keith

Don't Fuck with me Keith - J. Mandeville

[BillyVance 34]

About the only time I'd put personal stuff on my resume is if they show some kind of leadership/organizational quality. Say you served on a church vestry/council, or were a boy scout troop leader, or even organized world records with an international group...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Jeth 0]

Ya, I think I will continue to not have it on there. It can be fun to talk about if you have a good rapport with the interviewer, but it can also give the wrong impression to some people.

If an interview is going well and we start chatting, I'm sure our common interests will come up.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Flygurl 0]

Definitely NOT.

Any resume's I receive that are not purely professional go into the round file. As do the one's without a cover letter. At this point, they never even make it to me. They get screened out as soon as they're received by HR.

Save the personality for the interview.

________________________________________

"One out of every four American's are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."

[Jeth 0]

Quote

Definitely NOT.

Any resume's I receive that are not purely professional go into the round file. As do the one's without a cover letter. At this point, they never even make it to me. They get screened out as soon as they're received by HR.

Save the personality for the interview.

Thats pretty much what I figured. Are you a hiring manager? Good to know, thanks for the feedback.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Kid_Icarus 0]

I HIGHLY disagree. First off, if you're ram-shotting resumes to people, you're already off to the wrong start. In an endless sea of resumes, many of which have the same format, and look identical, save your name, a little something different is what they will remember at first scan. "Remember that applicant that has been to 18 countries... or remember that guy that volunteered in Africa."

They won't read everything at first, and that may be all you have. So I really feel that the look of your resume (always on really nice paper) and a few interesting things are what sets you apart. People won't remember who went to U of Arizona and who worked for IBM. Just my 2 cents.

[Icon134 0]

I had hobbies on my first ever resume... but I haven't done it since...

Oh, and my boss (V.P. Of Research at the company I was interviewing for... it was an engineering co-op job...) noticed it because he requested that I juggle for everyone at the end of the quarter...

Scott

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[Flygurl 0]

I've been in management for more than ten years and am currently in a senior management position at a Fortune 500 company.

Having read zillions of resumes here's what gets you on the "yes" list in my experience:

1. Clearly highlighting the experience/education you have that matches what is required in the job description. This is the purpose of the cover letter.

2. A well written cover letter with correct grammar and no typos.

3. No "fishy" or contradictory information.

4. Solid job history

Happy Hunting!

________________________________________

"One out of every four American's are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."

[psw097 0]

I have a 1/2 dozen different resumes. The ones that I use when not actively looking for a job have hobbies. My feeling is that I'm not looking so anyone that comes to me should know the score before wasting both our time. The resumes I use to go out and find a job with do not. At that point I figure I need to impress them not the other way around. I haven't looked for a job in 11 years though. Last job change GE approached me - hobbies were on that resume.

[Flygurl 0]

The process in most HR departments calls for an initial scanning of the cover letter to determine candidates that have highlighted their matching qualifications. Only the candidates that are seen as an initial match from the cover letter have their resume looked at.

I agree that a truly unique attribute could be included, but it should be worked into how it is relevant to the job and introduced in the cover letter.

For example, if a job requires "the ability to work in a diverse culture" a well traveled person could state that "travel throughout 18 countries has provided me with solid experience with a variety of cultures".

Personal experience relevant to a job requirement should be included, but it should be done carefully.

Yes, experience at the dog park may be memorable to someone. From my own experience, I can list a number of resumes that still stick in my from years ago, but they got a laugh not a call.

________________________________________

"One out of every four American's are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."

[sunshine 2]

Any resume that comes across my desk with hobbies on it, gets tossed aside.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[skycat 0]

Where I work cover letters are the first thing HR throws away, they never make it to me. In 2.5 years I haven't seen a single cover letter unless an employee gave me the resume of a friend. I personally like cover letters because they allow me to not have to go blind looking at resume after resume that don't really tell me anything beyond empty facts.

Fly it like you stole it!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

I'm unemployed and looking for work in the IT field as well, so this thread does apply to myself. I have tweaked my resume numerous times in the last few weeks sometimes having references to skydiving in it and sometimes not. My current resume has no reference of skydiving. But I do have "FAA Certified Pilot (Single Engine Land) - 2001" on it in my "Special Training" section and not long ago I had "Competitive High Performance Canopy Pilot" in it as well. But unless you're a skydiver, you likely don't know what a High Performance Canopy Pilot is. And I'm not even going to refer to swooping in my resume as whuffos won't know what that means.

Anyway if/when I do get a job interview and we start getting serious about employment and/or they ask me about certain interests, I will talk to them about my skydiving endeavors and will tell them that I am a competitive swooper (explaining to them what swooping is). Plus some employers do this ... they google you. And if you google my first name, last name and Colorado, one of the first hits is from a profile of myself from the canopypiloting.com website and in that profile it states (you've got to read between the lines) that I've made "X" number of BASE jumps. So any resourceful snoopy employer can find out certain things about you without your knowledge. Of course it's my fault for having this BASE jumping reference, but I'm not worried about it ... at least not yet. Oh and in my last interview a few weeks ago (which didn't go as well as I would have liked it to go, so I have been spending time here at home working on improving my J2EE knowledge), this employer made a reference to "hey we're likely going to through you off of a cliff, but not without a parachute" which translated to we're going to throw our technology at you and see how you deal with it, but someone will be there to answer some of your questions. So I've got to wonder if this employer googled my name and came across my canopypiloting profile with a picture of myself standing on top of a cliff with my BASE rig on in Moab.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[billvon 2,463]

>Any IT people have personal stuff on your resume?

Nope. I wouldn't recommend putting any such thing on your resume unless it is connected to the job you're applying for.

For example, assisting in the TSO tests for a new harness design IS a relevant bit of info if you are applying somewhere as an A+P, aircraft maintenance supervisor, aerospace engineer etc. Likewise, teaching FJC's for five years is quite relevant if you're applying for something that has to do with teaching. But to put "Hobbies - Skydiving, Scuba Diving, Macrame and Homebrewing" usually just isn't appropriate.

(From my perspective, as someone who sees a lot of resumes, that stuff looks like padding, an attempt to make a resume look bigger than it is.)

[ReBirth 0]

DUDE!! Can you macrame me a beer?

[Peej 0]

I have a small paragraph at the end of mine that talks a little about me and my interests. It mentions my love of traveling and skydiving, i've never had any negative reaction to it. Then again, I work in advertising, so we're expected to be a little left of centre.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Jeth 0]

Hmmm.... seems to be that the people who are against it are very against it. (Which makes me think there would be some hiring manager out there looking at my resume who feels the same way! )
But then there are several people who have done it and would do it again. Interesting...

Ya, I agree that I would only put it if I can somehow correlate it to the position I'm applying to. But considering I'm just a coding rat at the moment, I don't see how it could fit. Maybe when I get to the point of applying for a management position, then I can put my outside stuff on there as a sign of responsibility, diversity, handling pressure, etc.

But that's okay, I just accepted an offer for a sweet job doing exactly what I wanted to, so life is good.

BTW, Good luck to all you other IT peeps out there looking! Its tough out there with all these companies requiring exact skill sets and loads of experience. I was on the job hunt for over 2 years, pretty intensely this past year. I finally found something that I'm really excited about. I never thought it would happen, so I'm proof that if you just keep pounding the pavement, something WILL come up!

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Kid_Icarus 0]

I guess I just disagree with not putting personal info on one. But different strokes for different fokes. I am not in a hiring position, but do have a good IT job and have had done lots of interviews.

I guess I'm just not interested in working for someone / company who doesn't want to take the human factor into consideration. I am not a piece of paper and if they want to treat me as such, they can go hire a robot. I guess I have never gone for a job cold also... I always network through friends. Just my 2 cents... I hear what you are all saying though.

________________________________________
"What What.....

[LisaM 0]

Quote

I guess I'm just not interested in working for someone / company who doesn't want to take the human factor into consideration.

Every few months my boss will notice my first jump picture on my cube wall and say "Oh, do you skydive?!?!" And I think "idiot".

~ Lisa
~ Do you Rigminder?

[Jeth 0]

Quote

I guess I'm just not interested in working for someone / company who doesn't want to take the human factor into consideration. I am not a piece of paper and if they want to treat me as suck, they can go hire a robot.

I totally agree! But, unfortunately, I think many companies do handle it like people have said, they just stick to the hard skills/experience. Maybe cuz they have so many resumes to go through, they have to narrow them down somehow.
I find it very frustrating, though. I often say things like "If they just got to know me, they would want to hire me!" But you don't even get in the door unless your skills match their filter software perfectly.

I guess I just try to beef up my skills section with good keywords so that I get that call. Then I hope they will try to get to know me as a person in the interview.
In my recent job search, I had a couple terrible interviews where all they did was grill me for hours. I didn't even get a chance to elaborate or offer anything else -- it was just if I had the exact answer or not. It WAS like they were looking for a damn robot! And it made me feel stupid.

But then I finally had a great interview where they asked me questions about the bigger picture and my broader knowledge. They gave me time to explain what I had to offer, and also answered my questions about the company and themselves. They saw what I didn't know as potential to demonstrate my quick learning curve, not as a reason to not hire me. It was great. And I got that job.
But, unfortunately, I still think most IT jobs are granted based on how many keywords you match and how much code you can generate. I know I have come into contact with way too many software people who had the personality of a cardboard box.

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

I've been in management for more than ten years and am currently in a senior management position at a Fortune 500 company.

Having read zillions of resumes here's what gets you on the "yes" list in my experience:

1. Clearly highlighting the experience/education you have that matches what is required in the job description. This is the purpose of the cover letter.
2. A well written cover letter with correct grammar and no typos.
3. No "fishy" or contradictory information.
4. Solid job history

I'm in the exact same boat (But we are Fortune 100 ). I hire, I recruit, 10 years at it, senior management.

Flygurl is exactly right. I also like accomplishments to be QUANTIFIED (saved 3 months off of schedule, earned $2M dollars with this project, etc) - shows you understand the impact of the work rather than just comes in a does the tasks of the job (completed, managed, operated are ok, but weak without the payoff of "completing, managing, operating".....)

Putting in personal stuff is a waste of paper - if you need 1 inch of personal stuff, then that tells me you are more interested in your private life rather than using that to make a point about your professional life. 99% of the time, personal info can only have negative or neutral impact - why gamble for that 1% exception? Also, personal stuff puts the hiring manager in a position of knowing too much - leaves us open to being sued by the applicant ("they only refused to hire me because I downhill ski.....") It's not worth it.

Keep it on topic, keep it professional, make it stand out by showing tangible results from your history.

People need to stop thinking that job finding is about knowing the "tricks" instead of just good solid presentation and self-knowledge. (BTW, we can all recognize the 'canned' answers to a 'trick' question. Better to know yourself well enough that you can verbalize an 'honest and professional' response that try to trick the interviewer. And honest doesn't have to mean tactless.)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants