RE: Hobbies on a resume (WAS: RE: New TECHWR-L Poll Question)

["Jane Carnall" <jane -dot- carnall -at- digitalbridges -dot- com>]

John David Hickey wrote: <It's not the critical factor, but it doesn't hurt!
The candidate was qualified, talented, had solid experiences, answered my
questions well, AND was interested in animation.  <snip> Now if she had said
"All types of cartoons are for children and adult morons", that could've
counted against her, meaning that she wouldn't have been a good fit in the
company.>

Also, she'd have been pretty dim to say that at the interview. I work for a
company involved in the new WAP gaming industry. I'm not much of a gamer,
and what games I like are mostly not the kind of games played on WAP. Being
an enthusiastic gamer would probably have counted for me, being rabidly
anti-computer games would probably have counted against, but having nil
interest didn't affect me one way or another.

Are there any British employers on the list? I'm still convinced that this
is one of those genuine cultural divides between the UK and the US: over
here, I think most employers expect to see some kind of evidence that you
have a life outside your work (though they like to hear that you find your
work just that bit more important and interesting than your play). Maybe it
connects to the inclusion of more personal details (age, martial status,
etc) that people put on their CV here.

Marguerite Krupp wrote: <<My second thought is that, as a hiring manager,
your hobbies DO tell me something about you. For example (simplified
version), there was the
applicant whose avocation was singing grand opera. He mentioned that he
could work only four days a week because he had to have one day to travel to
NY to try out for parts. I think it didn't occur to him that we might be
concerned about what would happen if he actually LANDED one of those roles.
So maybe, in some cases, it IS useful to an interviewer to see your
hobbies!>>

Amusing story: five years ago a young man started a new job and one of the
things he told his management was that he was very involved with the Labour
Party, and in fact he'd been picked to run as a PPC (Prospective
Parliamentary Candidate) in the next General Election. "What if you win?"
they asked, reasonably enough. "Oh no, that won't happen," said Stephen
Twigg. "It's a safe Tory seat - I'm running against Michael Portillo."*

Jane Carnall
"Do, or go to. There is no try," said Yoda, refusing Luke's best java.

*(For Brits, this is enough of a punchline. For USians: Michael Portillo
losing his seat as an MP was one of the defining moments of the 1997
election. Portillo was (and is) a big name in British politics: Stephen
Twigg was a very surprised winner.)


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