I recently attended an LSE public lecture by George Anders which coincided with the launch of his new book ‘The Rare Find’, a fascinating investigation into the way forward-thinking companies seek out new talent.
One of the companies mentioned in the book is Google. Google started reading resumes in the traditional way, but after an inadvertent experiment (all the details in the book), they realized that they were potentially losing a lot of great talents by focusing all their attention on the usual suspects of academic achievement and credentials, so they began by reading the CV of the bottom until.
Now, for many years as a consultant and CV trainer, I have been advocating for the importance of the interests and activities section of a CV, sometimes in the face of conflicting opinions. What Google discovered by looking “backwards” was that the last section of a person’s CV revealed much more about their character and the attributes they will bring to a position beyond their academic prowess. Great news if school it wasn’t your favorite subject!
Employers in the UK are also starting to catch up, paying increasing attention to the interests and activities section as a way to narrow down what can often be a very long list of applications, particularly in this current climate of high unemployment. Clearly, as a job seeker, you want to make sure this section of your CV is up to the mark, so here are three things to consider when listing your interests and activities:
1) Be unique
When it comes to considering the types of interests and activities you should set aside, always think about what it says about you and, when possible, be unique. For example, taking part in a fun run to raise money for charities is great, but it’s showing up more and more on resumes. However, flying to the other side of the world to South America, waking up at 4 a.m. and walking up to 11 hours in different temperatures and altitudes to climb Mount Machu Piccu for charitable purposes. it is unique (read Michelle Pritchard’s story here). Not only that, this feat speaks volumes about a candidate’s level of resilience, discipline, and determination – all attributes of a great employee.
Unique doesn’t necessarily mean that no one else has done it before (after all, “there’s nothing new under the sun”), but what it does mean is that the interest or activity you list is a bit above normal. and therefore much less likely to appear on someone else’s CV in the same group.
2) be specific
Do you love “watching movies and socializing with friends”? Great, so does 99% of the job-seeking population, so there’s nothing new there! Don’t waste time listing generic interests and activities that don’t say or add anything to you as a person. If you’re going to list vague interests like “reading, watching movies, and hanging out,” at least be specific about it: “I love watching martial arts movies and Channel 5 direct movies starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal” it is more specific than its generic relatives and therefore more effective (of course, don’t go around writing this on your CV, but you get the point).
3) be honest
As much as you may be tempted to lie or exaggerate your interests, honesty is always the best policy. It doesn’t make sense to say that you love to play golf in your spare time when you live on a downtown estate without a patch of green in sight! You want the employer to employ you based on information about who you really are, not a fake person you created to put your foot in the door. If you somehow manage to get past the CV stage with lies, any demanding employer will be able to spot this quickly in the interview and if not, certainly at work, thus you would have wasted their time and more importantly yours. . ; not worth the hassle.
The key to remember is that your entire CV has to sell to you, including the interests and activities section. Get it right and you too can be that “rare find” companies are looking for.