jdg's picture Submitted by jdg on
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Career Management

I have a question about accomplishments to put on my resume.

Being pretty fresh out of school I don't have a huge amount of work related accomplishments. So in brainstorming I started wondering if I could put some of my accomplishments in my personal life that required business skills.

For instance,

1) Raised X amount of dollars for an international adoption
2) Organized a benefit concert that netted X amount of dollars
3) Changed the initial decision of X Dealership to perform $6,000 repair on vehicle by organizing a corporate complaint case against them.

You get the drift. Each accomplishment took business skills, vision, leadership, etc. to succeed in but they were performed for personal and not work related reasons.

Can I somehow put them on my resume?

What is your take on it?

Thanks
Josh

chuckbo's picture
Submitted by chuckbo on Friday December 8th, 2006 10:33 pm

I've had success building people's resume who don't have lots of experience and including items like that. As you've decided, it shows lots of the skills that a business might appreciate. It shows some competence in action, beyond just studying and getting good grades.

However, I wouldn't include that third item; if I saw that, I'd be thinking that I might want to get involved with someone who's ready to start a lawsuit. Sure, it probably was a reasonable action and the dealership you were dealing with probably were shady or something like that, but just from reading that statement on a resume, it'd turn me off. You want to focus on the positive events, not the coercive.

chuck

jdg's picture
Submitted by jdg on Saturday December 9th, 2006 7:02 pm

Thanks Chuck, that makes sense.

That is a good point on the third one that even though it was a good accomplishment for me it might throw a flag up for the company.

Josh

chuckbo's picture
Submitted by chuckbo on Sunday December 10th, 2006 2:04 pm

Josh,

and as I thought of it more, it hit me what was the bigger difference between the first two and the last one. The first two were actions you took to benefit organizations or causes that you're involved in. The last one was purely a personal item, and maybe that's why it didn't belong. If you had organized an effort to cause a company to renegotiate and refund overpayments or something like on behalf of an organization or a homeowners association, then it becomes a accomplishment that's more in line with work accomplishments -- where you achieve something for your employer.

chuck

Mark's picture
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Submitted by Mark on Monday December 18th, 2006 12:08 am

Sorry, but no to all. They're personal, and TOO personal at that. I might could accept the benefit concert, but that alone would beg the question, "for what"? The cause, unmentioned, may not get asked about, meaning they've decided that your not mentioning it indicates it's private... kiss of death.

That last one is mind-bogglingly bad. If I saw that, I would NEVER interview you.

No to all.

Is it possible? YES. My resume includes founding a fund raiser that has raised half a million and was first in the state (per capita) for several years running.

[b]Now, could you talk about personal accomplishments in an interview? Yes![/b] (though I'd say no to all of these knowing nothing more).
But that's the interview. This is your resume. They're different.

You're early in your career. We understand you haven't hit any home runs. But in baseball, we don't count touchdowns.

Mark