So you have a brown belt in Karate, tell me about that. Seriously, when was the last time you did a roundhouse kick? If you have this interest or other similar interests on your resume, you need to read this article. 

First, a Word on ‘Experts’ and Their ‘Advice’

You will probably notice that some ‘experts’ recommend leaving off interests from the resume. I often check the ‘experts’ and their credentials; usually a degree in xyz, with little or no resume and career tool writing, career counselling, business, HR, recruiting (the list goes on) experience. Looks like anyone can be an expert!

We see lots of people just repeating what is out there, and we tend to focus on what works on this end and receive lots of great feedback from clients.

You will want to read this article that we wrote on interests and extracurricular activities. Trust us, we see a lot of benefit and most recently we have a client who had lots of enriching items receive multiple job offers (the recruiting team actually was very impressed with the list of interests).

So, How Do You Correct Your Resume?

Have a good look at your resume and be honest about the level of involvement with the particular interest. We see lots of physical activities on the resume, and find out our client has bad knees, or way back in high school were a member of the girl’s volleyball team. The most popular and often embellished activity is some kind of martial arts (usually the guys tend to keep this one on the resume; you know who you are!).

Take out the details that are not applicable, and replace with up-to-date or current items.

It’s okay to keep that duathlon completed in 2009, as this is a good achievement and has merit, but we would avoid writing “avid runner and multiple sport competitor” when you are no longer involved in this type of activity.

If you have more questions on extracurricular activities and interests, leave your comments below or contact us. Please share this article below.