Should I List My Hobbies On My Resume?

Look at those fish! I recommend pairing them with a fine chardonnay. (iStockphoto.com/mel-nik)

You have many talents! You can pull off the triple axel during your weekend figure skating meets. During last month's lunker competition, you used your well-honed fishing strategies to snag an 18-pound bass. And your mixology skills are to die for – just wait until people try your latest invention, the Double Cranberry Tom Collins!

No question, your mother's proud of you. And she should be, Bubbelah! You're amazing!

But would a potential employer be equally impressed to see your hobbies on your resume?

Hobbies and resumes can be a tricky combination. The purpose of a resume is to sell to a hiring manager and recruiter your ability to do a job, and to highlight your ability to stand above the crowd.

So, before including your championship Tiddlywinks credentials on your CV, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Will my hobbies help me highlight my skills and abilities to a potential employer?

I have a friend who was a competed in Scrabble tournaments (if you don't know Scrabble, it's a board game where you use tiles to build words for points; the most points at the end of the game wins) - he was nationally ranked, and he traveled the country to match skills and play the game against the best players. Think about the skills involved in playing Scrabble - it's highly analytical, requires both verbal and mathematical skills, and makes you think on your feet to solve problems, and I'd consider including it on the resume for this reason. Likewise, an engineer who competes in robotics tournaments shows that he or she is inventive, analytical, and driven.

2. Did I attain substantial achievements in my hobby?

It can help an employer's perception of you if you achieved the pinnacle of your pastime. Let's say you were selected for your country's Olympic curling team – even if you chose not to participate due to other life obligations, you can demonstrate that you exercised the discipline to be ranked "world-class" in something. This isn't limited to athletics, either. Perhaps you won a creative writing contest. It can count.

3. Did I hold any nonprofit leadership roles?

Maybe you sit on the board of a local charity. Or you're a Boy Scout Troop Leader helping youths develop themselves. Perhaps you give seminars to unemployed professionals on dressing for success. These all demonstrate a commitment to the community at large, but also show opportunities to hold leadership and management positions.

4. Could my hobby be potentially applicable to my line of work?

I've heard of situations where people have hobbies which weren't officially in a job description but helped a job seeker get a job. Salespeople who indicated they play golf or tennis come to mind - many deals get done on the course or court. Likewise, I know of an individual who listed photography on their resume, and received an offer for an engineering role because they had a VERY niche position available which involved photographic equipment. Or experience as a mixologist (i.e., bartender) might be of help if you're applying for any position in the food, hospitality, or alcohol beverage industry.

5. Would listing your hobby work for you - or against you?

Remember, an employer reading a resume can be judgmental – fairly or unfairly – and including a hobby which a hiring manager or recruiter might find objectionable (or just plain silly) can be a risk. Try to be conscious of potentially controversial hobbies; for example, some individuals might find mentioning bartending objectionable if they're teetotalers. And while it's impressive that you own the largest collection of Pez dispensers, an employer might view it as frivolous and a waste of space on the resume.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

What Does It Mean When An Employer Says They'll "Keep My Resume On File?"

You may think this is what happens, but trust me. It isn't. (iStockphoto.com / XiXinXing)

You just submitted your resume for a job opening on a company's website. Shortly after clicking "send," you receive an email that looks something like this:

"Thank you for your interest in the position with our company. We appreciate you taking out the time to send us your resume, and we want to assure you that it will be reviewed and carefully considered. Should your credentials match our current requirements, we will be in touch with you. If there is not a match, we will retain your information for future reference."

It's a generic letter that tells you, in essence, four things:

1. We have received your resume.
2. We are going to look at your resume.
3. If we like your resume for the job, we'll contact you.
4. If we don't like your resume for the job, we'll keep the resume on file.

The unspoken message here is, "Don't call us, we'll call you."

Let's look at the numbers for a moment. Recruiters often receive hundreds – or even thousands – of resumes for each job opening they post. The odds are against receiving a call, so the company is trying to set your expectations as a job seeker.

So – the company told you they're going to keep your resume on file for future opportunities. Will they, really?

The answer is yes. Companies do keep resumes on file after you've submitted them. At least for a period of time. Here's why:

1. Resumes received now may be a fit for future opportunities. Only a small percentage of the resumes a recruiter receives for a job posting are actually a potential fit for the the job. So, the recruiter may mine the database in the future, when they get a new job opening; if there's plenty of qualified applicants in there, they may not post the job

An Aside: Most of the resumes received for any particular job (my guess: 70%) are sent by people who are on their way to being qualified for the job but are currently too junior for the role; they're applying in the hope that somebody will take a chance on them –OR– by applicants who have minimal or no qualifications for the position but really want a job with the company. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," seems to apply to the overwhelming majority of job applicants.

2. Document retention policies require that the employer keep resumes on file. First, a short lesson on what document retention means; companies are often required by their legal department to hold onto resumes (as official documents) for a designated period of time due to internal organizational need, regulatory requirements for inspection or audit, legal statutes of limitation, or other legal or nonlegal reasons. Let's say somebody applies for a job at a company and isn't selected for the position, and he or she decides to sue a company for employment discrimination; the company receives subpoenas for its employment records, and the resumes they received are part of the mix. A company would be in deep you-know-what if they weren't able to retrieve the resumes received for that particular job for their attorney to build a case.

So, what are the chances of your resume actually getting another look down the road? In truth, it varies. Corporate recruiters, as a general rule, are heavily bogged down in managing recruitment of their open positions. It's not unusual for a corporate recruiter to be working on 20 or more jobs at a time.

Do the recruiter's math: (20 jobs x 1,000 applicants) + all the interviews and other work they have on their desk = 20,000 resumes to filter plus a whole lot more stuff to do. The inclination may be to just slap the job up on LinkedIn or Indeed, see who applies, and look at the resumes the applicant tracking system (the recruiter's database) ranks highest.

That said, there are recruiters who do deep mining into their databases to find the gems. So, how can you increase your chances of getting another look down the road by an employer?

• Submit a really good resume. A strong resume will show up in the recruiter's searches because it contains a lot of great keywords and is loaded with a ton of accomplishments. Want to learn more about how to strengthen your resume? Follow this link for my article, "6 Things You Can Do To Strengthen Your Resume Today."
• Read the email that you got from the company to learn how long they're going to keep your resume on file. It's a decent bet that if the company follows its own retention policy, your resume will be dumped from the system after that time. Resubmit after that time expires.
• Don't give up on applying to new jobs. Keep an eye on the company's job postings. If you see another job that is a particular fit for your talents, reapply to the new position.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Can I Ask an Employer For Interview Feedback?

Well, that explains it... (iStockphoto.com/kasahasa)

A week ago you interviewed for a job with a local technology company. You spent three hours answering and asking questions with interviewer after interviewer. You figure you did pretty well, so you're surprised to find the following message from the company's recruiter in your email inbox the next day:

"We appreciate your interest in our company and thank you for the time you spent interviewing with us, and giving us the opportunity to learn about your skills and accomplishments. However, we have identified a more highly qualified individual for the role. We wish you the best of luck on your job search and your future endeavors."

You thought you nailed the interview. And, there's nothing of value in that rejection letter that provides you any insight into the company's decision to cut you loose. Is it okay to reach out to the recruiter or the hiring manager to ask why they took a pass on you?

Absolutely, you can ask for feedback. Just don't expect a meaningful answer.

Or for that matter, any answer at all.

Why don't companies usually share useful information about the interview with you? There are several reasons:

• Potential liability: Employers wish to avoid providing job seekers with anything that could be used against them in a discrimination lawsuit. Even interview feedback provided with the best of intentions could turn out to be damaging, so it's not unheard of for companies' legal departments to implement and enforce a "no-feedback" policy for this reason.

• Goodwill: Yes, it hurts not to know where you went wrong in the process. A saccharine reason like, "we have identified a more highly qualified individual," can be puzzling, but also reassuring, planting the belief that you were this close to getting the role and that a more qualified candidate showed up. Many companies are very conscious of their image as both an employer and as a brand owner. If they hurt your feelings by telling you that your interview skills were terrible and you weren't qualified for the job, would you want go back for another round of interviews should you be called for another job there? And would you keep buying their product?

• Time: Let's say a recruiter is working on 25 open jobs. They've interviewed 5 people for each open position. Doing the back-of-the-napkin math, that would be 125 interviewees with whom the recruiter would need to spend time providing - and explaining - interview feedback. At an estimated ten minutes per conversation with each interviewee, it would take more than 20 hours to communicate feedback to everybody. Add this to the recruiter's other job responsibilities, such as sourcing and screening candidates, producing reports, and attending meetings, and it's easy to see why the recruiter would opt to send you a form letter generated by their candidate tracking system. Such conversations take a great deal of time; think back to your last performance appraisal - do you remember how much time and discussion you had with your manager around each little detail?

• They've made up their mind, and you can't change it: Employers have a great deal of latitude in terms of their hiring decisions, and they don't appreciate being second-guessed. By taking your call, and by having a conversation about the interview, company representatives are opening themselves to a potential disagreement over how things went or were perceived. The recruiter may tell you that you were too light in a key skill for the role, but you points out that you have over 10 years experience and clearly meet the job requirement. It puts the employer in the position of having to defend their position to support their decision. And oh, by the way, the other candidate who interviewed already accepted the offer and is scheduled to start on Monday.

So what do you do if you would still like to get feedback on your interview?

Ask for feedback. Nicely. Email the company recruiter or hiring manager thanking them for their time, indicating that while you were disappointed that you didn't get the job and that you hope they'll keep you in mind for future opportunities. At the end of your message, tell them you'd like to continue to develop, and that any feedback they could provide would be very much appreciated. Don't push it, and don't ask multiple interviewees for their input. If they want to share anything with you, they will. Be gracious in accepting any feedback they provide you (or be equally gracious if they tell you they can't provide you any feedback), without argument. Then let it go. You'll come across as professional and mature.

Polish your interviewing skills. Work under the assumption that you could use some more polish in your presentation. Conduct mock interviews with a coach or a friend. Pinpoint your areas for development, and work on those. Then you'll be ready the next time an employer calls.

The lack of feedback may leave you feeling unfulfilled and disappointed, but it's important to preserve your professional brand to an employer, so don't push the issue.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Tagged: interviewing, interviews, career, background checks