Genuine Interests on Resume (Without Coming Off the Wrong Way)
I want to put genuine interests down in my interests section but I don't want them to come off poorly.
I am a big live music/concert/music festival lover and love to see my favorite bands play. I'm not sure how to get this across on my resume. Would "Live Music Enthusiast" come off as pretentious? "Live Music Junkie" doesn't sound great either...
Don't do it. Put "music" and "travel" in the personal interests part of LinkedIn, stuff like that has no place on a resume or cover letter.
I disagree - bankers I know have actually said that when they see so many similar resumes, often they will want to interview people with interesting hobbies/interests etc. I am currently training for my first half Ironman and that went on my 'Activities' section of the resume - when I was interviewing, talking about that took up a big chunk of all my interviews.
I would hesitate to put anything that could have negative connotations, so I might refrain from putting "live music enthusiast" (sounds a bit pretentious) or "music festival lover" or anything like that. However, I personally think that you could put something like "live music" on your resume in interests, or "music" or something.
Phrase it in a conservative way such as "live music events" or something. Using genuine interests (as long as they are professionally acceptable) is a one way to get your resume noticed among hundreds of cookie-cutter resumes that are boring the person selected to flip through them to tears.
How do I spin my interests in a good light? (Originally Posted: 07/26/2012)
I am from a non-target, looking to break into IB. I have been networking hard and made some decent contacts along the way, and have been asked to forward my resume along to several BB's. I recently did an overhaul on my resume, that is now a 1000x's better, however I think adding an interest section may help to catch a bankers eye. However I worry my interests may come off like I am a deadbeat douchebag. My parents have owned a lake house for a number of years so I have always enjoyed wakeboarding, fishing, etc. and I have always made frequent snowboarding trips to colorado. Outside of this I have the same general interests as everyone else; travel, exercise, etc but that doesn't accomplish the differentiating factor I am after. On the polar opposite side of the spectrum I also enjoy tech hacks / DIY, I am coffee snob, self-learning, etc.
In summary how do I spin my interests in a way that doesn't present me as an adrenaline junkie douche, or a socially retarded coffee sipping tech nerd?
As always, thanks for the input.
You are what you are.
Well fuck... is there any way I can trick bankers into thinking these are good qualities?
[50% sarcastic / 50% serious]
Dude. There's nothing wrong with putting wakeboarding and shit like that. Not douchey at all, especially compared to sailing or something like that. Putting traveling and exercise is just a waste of space. Don't put something that generic on there.
My parents have a lake house as well and i have actually always enjoyed sailing. And I have that on my resume.
How many bullet points are you dedicating to interests? It should be just one bullet point ex) - Interests - Wakeboarding, fishing, snowboarding, specialty coffee Your interests isn't make or break. Its just something your interviewer can talk about during the fit part of the interview.
I have dedicated my interests to one line under the skills & interests section. I know to avoid the generic stuff, just after having read so many posts on the interests section I have the impression that if you include it you run a pretty high risk of getting dinged.
also SouthernHopeful,
I am glad you also share an interest in maritime activities
I prefer that people leave off interests...I really don't care about their interests. Nobody has ever tilted an interview in their favor because of the interests section on their resume (with me).
On the contrary, I've tipped more than one interview because there was something in my interests section that the interviewer enjoyed talking about. Then again this will only really get your foot in the door, nothing more.
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