Q: At a journalism conference years ago, I was told by an editor from a large metro newspaper that listing other interests on your résumé, such as hiking or fishing, demonstrates that you're not just a city hall or school board junkie. It shows you are multi-dimensional, have other interests and able to cover a variety of events.
Is this true or does the "other interests" listing on a professional résumé look childish? Someone else said it's fine if you're fresh out of college, but unprofessional for those with a few
years of reporting experience.
Thanks!
Kate
A: Editors, like normal people, are all different. Some like 'em and some don't.
Safest are outside interests that have journalistic applications: travel, languages, pop culture.
Less relevant, but still showing leadership or an adventurous spirit can be good, too: marathon running, art, music, volunteer work.
Still less relevant to the job will make more editors wonder: crafts, collecting, shopping.
I advise against listing interests that may have editors pigeon-hole you outside of journailsm, or think about you in strange ways: nail care, hair styling, massage.
But don't go by the list, thing about the relevance. If an applicant for a gardening or environmental job is a Master Gardener, I'm interested. If the retail reporter is a black-belt shopper, I can buy that. I am not as excited that the City Hall reporter is a SCUBA diver.
If the former nail technician says, "Working with people's hands -- physically touching them as I worked and talked to them -- taught me to quickly establish rapport and get them to trust me," I'm listening.
I am generalizing to say that more conservative and old-school editors are interested only in outside interests that are most tightly looped into journalism. Some candidates have found that they really clicked with an editor who shared an obscure interest, but matchups are rare.
Final thought: Treat your résumé differently depending on whether you are using it to get an interview, as in responding to an ad, or presenting it as the same time you'll interview, like at a job fair.
