I normally don’t comment on posts like this but HOLY SHIT I can tell you that this sort of thing is EXTREMELY helpful if you need to buff up your resume a bit.
Ever customize a tumblr theme? BAM! You have HTML experience.
Taken on commissions, even if it was for something like, I dunno, Gaia gold back in the day? BAM! Professional artist.
Create your own graphics for your blog? BAM! Image editing experience/junior graphic designer.
Roleplay? BAM! Working collaboratively in a creative capacity.
You gotta look at your hobbies and boil them down to what you’re really doing. Everything you do gives you experience in SOMETHING, you just gotta figure out how to word it in different ways.
*Bob Belcher Voice* Oh my god…
Yes, yeah, your hobbies do give you skills in a creative way that piques your interest but for the love of god unless you are really reeeeeeally desperate like you need this job or else a man from child services is going to take your sister and her new alien-dog then do not put this stuff on your resume, folks.
I’m trying to be patient here but seriously do not do this.
It’s probably the worst thing you could ever do.
Do you know why?
I’ll tell you why.
You’re going to get in that job interview (congratulations) and you’re going to look your would-be employer dead in the eye and they’re going to ask you to
e l a b o r a t e.
So unless you’re comfortable telling the person who decides your future and will be in a position of power over you for who knows how long that you beat the Demogorgon in a 10 hour tournament or that you have a blog that’s all about Tom whatshisface’s ass or that you cosplayed as Tony The Tiger…
do NOT put stuff like this on your resume.
no but you’re wrong though?
you can put literally anything you are capable at on a resume. anything. i was a helper for a writing/roleplaying camp for teenagers. how does that look in an interview?
well, i was an acting coach for an acting and writing program. not untrue, just different buzzwords. and yes, i got a job BECAUSE of that. they hired me BECAUSE OF THAT
the only thing i would caution you on is to A) know how you’re going to explain it if they ask, you don’t have to tell it exactly as it is but you can change the words so it sounds better, and B) don’t put anything on there that you can’t do. if you say you’re a junior graphic designer, you’d better be able to back it up in case they hire you to do that.
also, for the roleplaying thing and stuff like it, that IS something you’re gonna wanna say in an interview. absolutely tell them that you can be creative in teamwork situations! that’s important! you have skills you have no idea you possess, and one of those wacky things just might be the thing that gets you the job. it’s worked for me
(since you’re supposed to cite your sources, i am a real adult who has gotten jobs doing stuff like this)
Yes! Wording is everything – I’ve been able to explain usual online/nerd things that would otherwise give me weird looks when networking or just talking to old conservative people
Q: How did you meet your partner?
What happened:
We met though tumblr rping, then became closer until eventually, we found out we were gay for each other and ended up confessing for each other, this beginning our LDR for two years before moving in with each other.
A/What I say: We met through a creative writing thing over that summer(when we met), and we just stayed in touch ever since. Turns out he lived further away than what I thought, so we had to be a LDR for a while until he officially moved in with me.
And that’s the end of that! No weird looks, and some get a little dreamy-eyed and make remarks: “Oh, like pen pals, how cute!” I’m not lying about what happened. But through code switching and my wording, I can generate multiple responses to the same question concerning the same story, and yet evoke different connotations from each respective response.
