A Secret To Get Interests Read On Your Resume.
By: Sheila Musgrove
Tags: Resume Writing, Job Hunting, Job Search, Career Advice, Cv Writing

A Secret To Get Interests Read On Your Resume.

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

Yes, I meant to poke you a bit.

I know you probably have many interests like gardening, cooking, reading, hiking, weight lifting, wine tasting and skiing.

Sure, they’re all fun, but…

They look like the last 22 resumes I’ve read this morning.

Use the interest section on your resume to tell me something FUN (and yes, interesting) about you!

One of my recruiters wrote on his resume that he was into competitive dodge-ball.

Well, that made me laugh.

I’d never met a candidate who put dodgeball on their resume! I was still chuckling as I was dialing him for a phone screen telephone chat.

And, yes, he got the job!

When working with candidates in my resume and interview coaching practice, most candidates freeze when I ask,

“Tell me about your interests outside of work?”

Poof, the deer-in-the headlights appears.

Copyright 2019 Sheila Musgrove

(Sidebar: I used this image many times throughout my book, “Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter.” The deer pops up many, many times throughout the interview. Follow my articles and you’ll learn how to ditch the deer-in- the- headlights. GRIN)

And, usually the job seeker replies with, “well, I’m kind of boring…OR, I’m not that interesting.

Come on. Dig deep. Everyone has something fun to share about their life outside of work.

Maybe you’ve cycled across various countries, self-taught languages or jumped out of airplanes!

Don’t be afraid to add some personality to this section. Yes, you read that right. Your resume can showcase your personality!

Here’s some ideas..

Think about:

Places you’ve travelled.

Have you attended every football or hockey game in the last 10 years with your favourite team? (Yes, I’m from Canada — we put U’s into words.)

Worn a Grey Cup and a Superbowl ring? I met a candidate last month that had a checkmark to both of these! How fun is that?

Have you self-taught to forage mushrooms (and not die by eating the wrong ones!)

Visited every province in Canada or state in the USA.

Travelled to XX number of countries.

Ran 5 half marathons.

Cycled across France.

Read 3000 books.

Met the Queen of England. (Yes, it could happen!)

Had a random chat with a celebrity. (Mine was doing a bold ask to a very high profile author….and he called me! That’s another article on making bold asks!)

How many days per winter do you ski?

Have you developed a fitness routine during COVID? One of my clients did. And, he lost 40 pounds! Now, that’s interesting!

Did you take to You Tube and figure out how to remodel your kitchen? (All while keeping all fingers and toes in-tact…I hope!)

Have fun with this section on your resume. It’s not a deal breaker if you don’t include this section….but it can certainly make you stand-out. It sure did for my competitive dodge-ball playing recruiter!

If you’d like to enroll in my client or candidate (job seeker) newsletter, please visit: www.sheilamusgrove.com I write about job searching, resume writing, interviewing and how to be a stand out candidate. I sprinkle in tips for Hiring Managers and a bit about creative marketing too!