Resume - "Interests"

[BryanP]

So I'm working on my resume this morning (don't tell my boss ) and I'm working through a few standard resume formats. It's been a while since I've done this - I've worked for the same company (not counting mergers, spinoffs and reorgs) for 15 years and the last time I had to apply for a job was an internal job change / promotion, so I haven't really kept this up to date.

Yes, this is gun related.

Most resumes include a section of "interests.". I started to type that in.

"Computers, Reading, movies, Japanese culture, history, animation, target shooting."

Hmmm. Do I really want to mention guns in a resume? I've about decided that the most expedient thing I could do is to just leave that off the list, but it does leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Opinions?

 

[clubsoda22]

Dunno...part of me wants to tell you to include it...another part of me thinks your resume will get read by someone in personnel who reads "target shooting" as "bringing an AK47 to work and gunning down all of my co-workers"

Also, if they hire you, they're more likely to say, "oh, by the way we don't allow weapons in the workplace" as opposed to them saying nothing, therefore you not blatantly violating a rule by carrying

 

[greyhound]

I wouldn't put it on. Just my opinion, but applying for a job is not the best time to make a stand on RKBA.

That said, yes it would leave a bad taste in my mouth too. I would write a letter to an elected official for every resume you send out!

 

[BryanP]

Oh, this would be a government job, so being able to carry would be completely out of the question. And I like the idea of writing letters to my reps. Mine are all solidly green on the AWbansunset listing but it never hurts to give a little reinforcement.

 

[standingbear]

put it down...target shooting shows you are responsable and can act saftly around things like guns.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Don't seed your resume with landmines...

Unfortunately, HR types, who know very little about the jobs they are to fill, treat them in two ways:

First, they do simplistic pattern matching of skills/abilities against the job listing.

Job listing: forklift driver, ability to drive forklift
Resume: ability to run load lifter (essentially, a forklift)
Result: resume skipped.

Second, they scan for any reason to skip over a resume.

While target shooting/roller skating/etc aren't per se reasons to ignore a resume, the biases of the person reading it are unpredictable.

I've pretty much dropped the personal interests section of the resume. It's quite irrelevant.

Impress them with how well rounded you are in the interview.

 

[boofus]

I've always been told to keep the resume purely professional. To only list job skills and relevant experience. No hobbies, medical stats, childhood stories, etc...

I guess if part of the job entails shooting at things then you could include it as 'I regularly practice job skills' or some such BS.

Those HR people have plenty enough reasons to discrminate against potential employees like race, age, marital status and stuff without getting into RKBA.

 

[BryanP]

Oh, I've already had to fill out a separate application where I was told ahead of time by the guy who is prospectively my new boss "Remember, the HR clerks who read this thing don't know diddly about what you do. Read the job description and write your experience to match the keywords, because that's all they're looking for."

I wasn't going to get in to all of that because I was trying to just address the gun-related portion of the question. However, if I need to shorten the resume the first thing that will get deleted is that section, so the point may be moot.

 

[wardog]

I agree with Clubsoda 22

It has been my experience that most Human Resource personnel are liberals, and would read "enjoys target shooting" as "likely to show up in fatigues pumping round after round into colleages and coworkers with an assault rifle."

 

[clubsoda22]

More on my quest to make liberal less of a dirty word....

Dammit! I'm a liberal!

 

[4v50 Gary]

Save resume space for job skills and why they should hire you. Leave interest out. That can be discussed during the interview process.

 

[Kharn]

Dont mention it!
I did mention skeet & trap shooting once during an interview with the Navy for a civilian job (as many naval bases have a trap range), but that might have been the kiss of death for that interview...

Kharn

 

[Waitone]

I spend entirely too much time sending out resumes.

A resume's purpose is not to get you a job. A resume's purpose is to get you an interview for a job. A resume is designed to establish your technical qualification for the position. The interview(s) determine your compatibility with your boss, co-workers, and copamy.

Therefore, any personal information included in a resume that is not directly related to the position you target is off point, distracting, and potentially counter productive.

Now to the issue of shooting sports on a resume. All the observations are valid. Reality is those who screen resumes generally don't know diddly-squat. Any concept they may have will be shaped by the bilge taught in HR courses or printed in magazines. Also remember, screeners do just that. . . they screen. They are paid to look for any excuse to exclude candidates. Their job is to get the pile of resumes down from 300 to 3. By including shooting sports in your interests you are erecting barriers. Don't do it.

In my humble view the only personal interest suitable for a resume is a personal interest directly applicable to the position you seek. Looking for a position that is in contact with a bill paying customer? Golf is perfectly acceptable as is tennis. Looking for a position with a gun manufacturer? Shooting sports are ok.

Now let us assume you keep shooting sports off you resume and you do get an interview. Do you disclose you hobby during the interview? I wouldn't. I'd get the job and keep my ears open. Shooting sport advocates will make themselves known to the new guy. Revealing you sport during the interview again injects a barrier you don't need.

The job market is entirely too competitive and squirrely right now for you to create your own barriers.

 

[telewinz]

Resumes are not a political statement, its a written advertisement about yourself. Ditch the guns and add how you work with youth groups and visit the elderly. Most important...list your important achievements in life and the WORK PLACE. As an employer, I care what you have achieved, not what you do for entertainment or what our common hobbies might be! Business is business don't ever forget it, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR ME. I've been working for 40 years yet I keep my resume to one page, any longer and it seldom gets read. Don't underestimate the need for interview skills, the resume (and word of mouth)gets you in the door but the interview determines whether you get the job. If you are older, it doesn't hurt to tell them you are in excellent health (if you are), they can't ask but they sure want to know.

 

[cookhj]

definately do NOT put anything about what you do outside of work in your resume. it is none of their business. a resume is a piece of paper with your professional qualifications on it. the only things you should have are your education, other jobs that you've held (if you've had a few, use only the ones that pertain to the job you're looking at getting), and things like professional certificates, ability to speak languages, honors, and other achievements. now if you go in for an interview with the boss of another company and he has targets in his office and firearms related paraphernalia, i think it would be safe to mention it. other than that, keep your resume strictly professional.

 

[ajacobs]

I didn't put it in a resume but I had a personal relashionship (friend of a friend) with a person who latter would be my boss. He new from his friend that I had guns and bought it up in my interview questioning if I was resonsible. I handled the question well, got the "caution" and got the job. Although the entire time I was employed there I hated him for that, not only questioning me the way he did but for using information from a personal relationship to judge me for a professional relashionship.

 

[Zundfolge]

To your typical HR goon, the phrase "Target Shooting" or "Hunting" under interests equals "potential workplace shooter".

I don't have an "interests" section on my resume, but I do try to throw some things in that will make me stand out in the minds of those reading it.

One reason I got the job I have now is because under each previous job where I detailed what my duties where, I ended each one with "... and make the coffee" and under my "skills" seciton I ended it with "... and I make a pretty good cup of coffee".

This is because I have always ended up in charge of making coffee wherever I worked (mostly because I'm picky about the coffee) so it was a nice bit of humor that made me stand out.

When I started the job I have now, the IT guy had named the hard drive on my Mac "Mr. Coffee"


If you are going to add things to your resume that aren't directly related to the work you're going to do, make sure you add things that are non-political and non-controversial.

 

[Barbara]

Keep the resume about your professional qualifications. No need to put hobbies at all unless they are directly related to the position or show evidence of some sort of leadership ability. Anything more is clutter.

 

[chaim]

Two things, don't include an "interests" section, and if you must then leave out shooting.

At the resume stage you need to impress in as little space as possible. Meanwhile, "they" are simply looking for things to screen you out. It is generally a bad idea to put down anything that people may have prejudices against- any reference to your ethnicity, politics, religion or anything controversial (like guns) is not a good idea. It doesn't get you any points and it is something that might get you rejected.

The interest section...

I only see one reason for it, to show that you are a well rounded individual. For college and graduate school applications that makes sense. If you have a 3.5 GPA and do nothing outside of school that is far less impressive than someone with a 3.5GPA and 20 hours of outside activities. However, I see no real positive to showing potential employers how "well rounded" you are. I don't think very many employers will turn someone down because they appear to have no outside life and all they have is work. On the other hand, if you appear to be overextended then they'll wonder if you will have enough time for them.

The one exception is if your outside activities include skills that might be useful for the job. If you have leadership positions in clubs that might show leadership experience and/or useful skills (newletter editor, treasurer, president, etc.) then include it, but in a "volunteer experience" section instead of the "interest" section.

 

[marklbucla]

I had a day long interview with an actuarial company. I didn't feel like I was competitive for that particular job and the interviews weren't going great. So when asked about outside hobbies, I took a chance and mentioned that I was interested in target shooting. It went off great with one of my interviewers, as he was thinking of getting a Glock or a Sig. The other one gave a typical anti response.

If it's a longshot you'd be hired, you may want to put it in and hope it finds its way to a fellow gun owner. Otherwise, you would probably want to play it safe unless it's for something defense/gun related.

 

[ChickenHawk]

Waitone posted:

The job market is entirely too competitive and squirrely right now for you to create your own barriers.

Best phrase in this entire thread, IMHO!

Regards,
ChickenHawk

 

[BluesBear]

unless it is pertaining to the job I am seeking I ALWAYS leave the entire hobbies/interests part completely blank.

You never know who's going to have a chip on their shoulder about whatever interests you.

 

[dukeofurl]

Just say "Spending time outdoors"

 

[James Bondrock]

Personal information of this type has no place on a resume, IMO. Just put your skills, places you have worked (but not the reason you left) and other information pertinent to the prospective job. The other things can be discussed at the interview.

 

[Pendragon]

Your purpose for sending out a resume is to get an interview.

When THEY read your resume, they look for reasons to eliminate you.

Less is often more in resumes - too much detail or too much noise usually hurts more than helps - you want to get them interested - they may have a few questions, but thats ok, they get those answered in the interview.

Here is a sad fact. If I saw someone putting some sort of interest in guns on their resume, I would be strongly tempted to toss their resume.

Here is what would go through my mind (as an actual gun-nut):

1. This guy lacks a sense of professionalism.
2. This guy may like to wear "issues" on his sleeve - maybe he tries to bait people into arguments or maybe he is unbalanced in some way - there is a time and a place for everything and people who do not comprehend this make me nervous.
3. If he is actually just a "normal" gun owner, then he is exercising very bad judgement - I would never make a hiring decision on that single fact and plenty of people may actually cut him based on that so I am left thinking "what is he thinking?" and since I prefer to hire people who think...