Re: Hobbies on resumes

[TRACY BOYINGTON <trlyboyi -at- GENESIS -dot- ODVTE -dot- STATE -dot- OK -dot- US>]

Robert Plamondon wrote:
>   My wife would probably benefit from putting "motorcycle collecting"
>   (NOT "riding," "mechanic-ing," or "club membership," though) on
>   her resume.  I would probably omit it from my resume.

And Tracy, playing devil's advocate, wonders if an HR person or manager
would think:

"Hmmm...motorcycles...sounds like a gang...will we have drive-by
shootings in the parking lot..."collecting?"...sounds expensive, too...
what kind of money does she think we pay here...or is she
independently wealthy...probably wouldn't ever show up for
work if she was rich...take two-hour lunches to get her nails done...
I don't know, sounds kind of weird...think I'll pass on this one."

*I* would never toss your wife's (or your) resume aside just because
she collects motorcycles. But unless I worked for Harley-Davidson,
I would wonder why she thought it was relevant. And if she
*doesn't* realize it's not relevant, what *else* does she not
know? If she can't take the unnecessary details out of her own
resume, what's my publication gonna look like when she's through
with it? (said the devil's advocate once again). This is why I think
it's risky to put even innocuous hobbies on your resume (unless
they're relevant to a particular job).

Tracy


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Tracy Boyington
Technical Communication Specialist
Oklahoma Department of Vocational & Technical Education
Stillwater, Oklahoma

I never express opinions, but if one slips out, it belongs
to me and not ODVTE.

"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out
with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."
-- Steve Martin
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