As an experienced professional, do you include activities outside of your career and college information on your resume?
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Both my husband and I do on our resumes. We work in stressful fields, and the employers want to see that you have something outside of focusing solely on work.
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If they are applicable to my field then yes.
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I do. I have a section for Volunteer Activities at the bottom of my resume. Some employers have commented on it in interviews, some didn't care.
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Absolutely. Volunteering is a pretty big thing in my industry, as well as organizations and extra activities. I think it's good for employers to know you're well socialized and involved in the community
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Yes! Like @mrsjazz:, I have a volunteer section at the end of my resume.
I think they add a nice “whole person” view to a resume, and they have served as good conversation starters on interviews. I try to highlight “leadership” in my volunteer activities; which doesn’t mean being a manager or head of an activity, but demonstrating positive behaviors that would be good for an employer: commitment to an organization, being able to exercise influence, managing multiple lines of communication, the impacts my actions had, etc.
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Yep, they're an important part of who I am.
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I do. Especially because they are STEM related. Believe it or not, work related softball has come up more than once
I don't list things like "reading" and "photogtaphy" but Society of Women Engineers, etc
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Yup! It can help you stand out, too--a good friend of mine put "Award-winning quilter" (she's pretty amazing!) on hers, and got a call back because they were curious about the skill!
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Both or either if they re relevant to the work/field I am applying to
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I think they're good to include for the reasons above, but the downside to me is that they can sometimes seem like "fluff" and not very value-added, taking away space from things that should be more important OR used as filler to fill up the page of a weak resume. If you have a very strong/long resume and are having trouble fitting it on one page, that type of stuff would be the first to go for me, not any of the work experience stuff.
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My husband swears by including something along those lines because in his experience it frequently becomes an ice breaker in interviews or a way to stand out. For example, he works with computers but included info about an advanced scuba certification he did. Turns out the interviewers husband insisted she interview him because he really wanted to go to the same program and knew it was a big accomplishment. If it takes odd things like that to stand out and you can do it on a line or two I vote you go for it!
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If it's relevant, sure!
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@LaughLines: one page! That's tough when you are mid-career with a lot of accomplishments!
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@mediagirl: agreed!! that's why i've nixed the "extras" off my resume, but i do use them when applicable on interview questions.
I think the average amount of time spent looking at a resume is around 10 seconds.... so it really is important to keep it concise and only hit the important stuff. And at that pace the hiring team probably won't look at the second page of a two page resume at all
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No b/c it won't fit on the 1st page and not very relevant to my industry.
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@blackbird: haha, yes! Society of Women Engineers is the main activity I have listed on my resume.
Agree with others - if it's applicable, definitely include it!
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No, I don't and I would not look favorably on someone's resume that did. I don't think it's appropriate unless it's directly job related.
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When reviewing resumes to hire, I tend to appreciate when someone new to their professional life lists applicable activities. For instance, I'm interested to see that someone is a Relay for Life volunteer or active with their church youth group, but not interested in knowing that you like to hang out with your dogs and watch the Packers. All are real examples.
Especially with new grads, it helps me see them as a well-rounded person who potentially has more maturity than someone who is just coming out of the partying stage of life.
I don't typically list my volunteer work or activities on a resume, but do draw from and reference those experiences during an interview.
I don't list things like "reading" and "photogtaphy" but Society of Women Engineers, etc
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18 comments