On my resume' I put that I'm an accomplished

[Yoda]

Having been in a position of hiring (and firing) employees and having seen hundreds of resumes come across my desk I can tell you this is NOT a smart move.

You don't joke on a resume if you want to be take seriously in the working world.
Your resume would end up in the trash in no time flat.

:facepalm:

 

[Ark]

Massive fail thread.

Employers don't give a crap what you do with your spare time, the only thing your resume should show is solidly padded qualifications.

 

[garyw]

Employers don't give a crap what you do with your spare time

Of course they do. No company will tolerate you embarrasing them in your spare time. However, you are right in that they don't care if you are an expert in a flight sim.

Once you've been with a company for a bit you might score some kudos from your colleagues though. :lol:

 

[Lucy]

I'm obliged to spend at least some of my spare time maintaining my physical fitness. I can assure you that work take great interest in my fitness levels.

 

[Viper1]

You should read this article from HR world. It list the top 25 things NOT to put in a resume. To echo some other sentiments previously expressed, It would be huge mistake on your part to include video game experience.

http://www.hrworld.com/features/25-things-not-to-put-on-resume-121807/

With the economy in the way it is, and the scarcity of jobs, HR depts. are stricter than ever.

 

[statickid]

My friend gave me the SAS survival guide for my birthday a number of years ago. It's an incredible guidebook for basic survival ideas! Actually it's a huge book.

 

[Wishbone]

The SAS earn their reputation by helping other poor dumb bastards not read from any book any more.

Back on topic: I think that the OP can put anything on his resume if his dad is the boss in the company he's applying for. The orchestra is playing Creedence' the Fortunate Son...

 

[Ghostrider]

The SAS earn their reputation by helping other poor dumb bastards not read from any book any more.

Do you mean that after leaving service they become teachers?:blink:

 

[Linguofreak]

If you can *write* an addon like the XR-2 in your hobby time, that will be of interest to HR types at a software company. Putting on your resume that you can fly it will get you laughed out the door almost anywhere.

 

[Cairan]

There are "rules" to a resume that are not to be broken. When you put yourself in recruitment mode, you look at resumes to see if they conform to a professional standard while at the same time standing out of the crowd. You want the yet-to-be employee to be able to project a professional look on the first work ever he's doing for the company: his presentation and interview.

As far as Orbiter playing goes, there is a "pro" looking way to state it in a resume that would raise eyebrows but without sounding immature. In the Interests section of your resume, you could have said:

"Astronautic, Aerodynamic and Newtonian Physics Modelling and Simulations" which sounds a lot better than "Orbiter Space Flight Simulator". Perception counts a lot when you try to get a dream job...

 

[adamb193]

The most random thing I have on my resume is certified belayer in rock climbing. But my job involves rigging so it's relevant. Make the things on your resume relevant. Just because you can fly an XR2 or program the lights for a rock concert doesn't mean you should put it on your resume.

 

[reverend]

I found a good place in my resume to list things like this, under Hobbies, if it makes you seem better fit to the job. Coincidentally, I applied at a VoIP/networking company and listed 'Rocket Science' amongst my hobbies on my resume, and did get the job (though I doubt much was due to the Rocket Science, but they did ask me a few questions about it (not a usual hobby). I explained how I started with flight simulators, but 'graduated' to a space flight simulator after I got bored with the regular flight sims. I explained the Space sim is more challenging in many different ways and requires plenty of understanding about numerous areas of physics, such as orbital mechanics, forces, aerodynamics.

They read this to mean that I'm ambitious, able, and willing to learn new things, and that i'm probably not too bad at math and science. I'd say it helped a little. It was a much better hobby to list than golf and poker.

Strangely, now when our bosses talk and give presentations to customers, they say "Fixing a computer doesn't take a Rocket Scientist, but we have one on staff anyway."

 

[Enjo]

I (...) listed 'Rocket Science' amongst my hobbies on my resume, and did get the job (though I doubt much was due to the Rocket Science, but they did ask me a few questions about it (...)
They read this to mean that I'm ambitious, able, and willing to learn new things, and that i'm probably not too bad at math and science. (...)

Absolutely right. I realised that some time ago, because after I started working, it turned out that my employer indeed needed someone good with math. I'm the math geek ready at hand there.

OP: Which reminds me that I've also committed a thing along Keatah's philosophy in my CV: I made the HR think just a bit by including my Master Thesis title, which is (in loose translation) "Artificial intelligence in choosing optimal flight parameters for direct ascent orbital insertion method", but as a MSc thesis title, I had an excuse to include it. They asked me about it on the interview as well and it looked like I impressed them with my answer.

Strangely, now when our bosses talk and give presentations to customers, they say "Fixing a computer doesn't take a Rocket Scientist, but we have one on staff anyway."

:lol:

 

[Rtyh-12]

This thread makes me happy I still have a while until I have to write my own resume.

 

[Enjo]

I hope it also made you wise enough to write a good one, which is probably a motivation of experienced people taking part in this thread

 

[garyw]

Strangely, now when our bosses talk and give presentations to customers, they say "Fixing a computer doesn't take a Rocket Scientist, but we have one on staff anyway."

That is just awesome and it shows that if worded correctly you can use things like Orbiter on you CV. It certainly makes your CV stand out.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

If you're going to list XR-2 pilot on your resume, it may be helpful to include a photo of yourself sitting in an XR-2 cockpit mock-up, wearing a full ACES suit.

Or, if you really want to wipe the smug look off the faces of those HR robots, then make sure to land your XR-2 on top of one of their cars when you arrive for your interview.

This approach might work if you're applying to Altea Aerospace as a Starpilot, but I doubt it'll work anywhere else! :lol:

However, there are worse mistakes you can make on a resume. I had a friend who once wrote "OK" below the words "Do not write in this space"!

 

[Moach]

You should read this article from HR world. It list the top 25 things NOT to put in a resume. To echo some other sentiments previously expressed, It would be huge mistake on your part to include video game experience.

funny... this was a key issue when i applied to my job - many were turned down for -not- having enough videogame culture....
i DO program games for a living, tho.... :lol:

If you're going to list XR-2 pilot on your resume, it may be helpful to include a photo of yourself sitting in an XR-2 cockpit mock-up, wearing a full ACES suit. (...)

my brother (Harvester) makes it a point to include a note in his resume about his "fantastic USB stick-shift" he built for playing racing sims.... - it got him hired :hmm:... he also works with interactive media, BTW


in the end, i think it comes down to what it is that you're applying to... it CAN be a good idea to list "sim-pilot" in your special skills if you work with games, simulators or similar.... now for tie-sporting corporate types, they probably couldn't care less.... which is why i thank almighty probe i don't work for them :hail:

i did get my boss quite interested in Orbiter, actually.... but he's a programmer too... :thumbup:

 

[garyw]

There are even worse mistakes you can make in the interview. I had one guy show up with his mother as he couldn't speak English and she had to translate for him and another feigned illness so he could go outside and phone someone up to get the answer to a technical question.

When he came back into the interview and said he was ready to start I changed technical questions on him and the look of panic was amusing. He said that he had "the perfect answer to the previous question and could we please go back to that one?"