Re: Hobbys (and other stuff) on resumes (long!)

[Mercedes Abels <maa5906 -at- GRIFFON -dot- MWSC -dot- EDU>]

I went to several people I know who do hiring for their organization (ok,
not an entirely valid research method) and came up with a very strong
sense that (1) the resume should be as brief as possible (one person said
she refuses to read resumes over 1 page and (2) never put any information
on the resume that cannot be legally asked during an interview.
For instance, I do not use age, health, marital status, child-rearing
status, or religious or personal affiliations. I also leave out
hobbies on the grounds that I can bring it up during an interview, but do
not believe it will get me a job to list these activities on the resume.

My current employer asked about hobbies and we discussed the eclectic
range of my tase in music and books, and he noted that needlework
requires concentration and attention to detail. These were plusses in his
opinion, but could just as easily have been considered boring by someone
who had no interest in them. Hobbies may get someone's interest, but it
may also turn someone off immediately. I say if it's a 50-50 chance of
hurting or helping, that's too much risk for me on a resume.

Marci

On Fri, 29 Dec 1995, TRACY BOYINGTON wrote:

> {WARNING...this will offend somebody}
> Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the
> hobby/religion/family/health information used to be fairly common,
> but now tends to appear on the resumes of people who are (a) older
> or (b) homemaker-types or recent grads looking for their first job. I
> WOULD NOT HESITATE TO HIRE FROM EITHER OF THESE
> GROUPS, but some would balk, especially at the older applicants.

> One more thing you can leave off...I really don't care that you were
> a lifeguard 30 years ago. One of our contractors lists this on her 10-page
> resume. She could have gotten a job anywhere based on her last 5 or 10
> years of experience, but she listed every summer job she ever had! >