How Hobbies Can Help You Connect With Employers
Sometimes a hobby is more than a hobby Do you like long walks on the beach and kittens? Yes, of course, you do. But what does that have to do with getting a job? Sharing your interests on a resume is a way to build a connection and show off your personality. The tricky part is knowing what hobbies to put on your resume to give off a good impression and let the hiring manager know that you will be a good fit for their company. When to list hobbies on your resume? Listing hobbies on your resume is a much-contested matter. To some, a Hobbies and Interests section is a relic of the nineties — something generation X started doing to prove they aren’t just corporate drones, but actual people. Nowadays, many hiring managers hate it when employees waste valuable space on their resumes to talk about their love of books and socializing. But work culture is increasingly changing. Many companies are refocusing on personality-based hiring and finding employees that would be a good fit for their work culture. Adding a hobbies section might just do the trick! [bctt tweet=”Work culture is changing. Many companies are refocusing on personality-based hiring ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to match the company’s work culture? Trying to figure out whether you should put a Hobbies and Interests section on your resume? First off, you need to understand the company’s work culture: Go to their website and have a look around. Read up on the company values and what perks they provide their employees with. What events they organize. Then, have a look at employee profiles to see if they mention hobbies. Next, check employee profiles on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook. Employees are more likely to put some hobbies on a LinkedIn profile than elsewhere. Finish up with any general press to get a feel for how others perceive the company’s work culture. If you know who is responsible for hiring new talent, look them up, too. Interests are great way to break the ice and create rapport with the interviewer. What hobbies should you put on your resume? Let’s say you want to work for a professional wedding planner. You did your online research. You checked out the company site and browsed employee LinkedIn profiles. Perhaps you found out the company is looking for outgoing, playful, yet business-savvy employees with a basic understanding of social media. You noticed the recruitment page even points to some specific hobbies that their employees engage in, such as, say, dance, cooking, and mixology (all these evidence from their Instagram profiles!) How are you going to show those dream wedding planners that you’re playful yet business-savvy? That’s right. You add your hobbies that mirror the general vibe you’re getting from that company. Pro Tip: Don’t lie about your hobbies and interests. Assuming that adding them does the trick and you get a face-to-face with the recruiter, you’ll want to be able to leverage your hobbies and not stutter and stammer once you get asked about them. [bctt tweet=”Don’t lie about your hobbies and interests” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to fit in hobbies on your Resume Once you’ve pinpointed a company’s work culture, there are a couple of ways you can flesh out your hobbies section. Leverage your hobbies to signal cultural fit: According to research on what employers look for on a resume, cultural fit comes in a close second right after work experience. And that makes perfect sense. According to this comprehensive study, good cultural fit makes for happier, more motivated employees who stay longer on the team. If you think using hobbies as evidence of your value as an employee this is what you should do: Choose a hobby that requires you to use a skill set that would compliment the skills you need for the position you are seeking. For example, if you’re applying for a creative job, go for a couple of creative hobbies. Want to become a journalist? Photography might come in handy. Another approach is to add hobbies that require the use of a skill set that the hiring manager may have a hard time finding in other candidates because of a skill gap in the market. Want to work for a travel agency and you happen to run a travel blog? Mention this hobby as proof of your interest as well as niche grasp of skills such as wordpress and basic HTML. Pro Tip: The hobbies section might be better for recent graduates rather than professionals with years of experience. Now, coming back to signaling cultural fit. Say you want to work for a travel agent specializing in crazy adventure vacations. Your love of whitewater rafting might just come in handy! Want to be a server at a restaurant and you have a knack for cooking? Go ahead and list that on your resume. It’s relevant, plus, who knows, the employer might need a competent backup for the kitchen, too! What hobbies should you avoid on your resume? Are there any hobbies you should not mention on your resume? Those include any hobbies that are of a religious, political, or sexual persuasion. You also might want to avoid hobbies that others might consider strange or awkward (taxidermy anyone?) Or, if they are too general to make sense — like reading books and watching movies. C’mon, it’s like saying you are special because you breathe air! Remember that the whole point of sharing your interests is a way for a hiring manager to get a fuller image of you, to connect with you. And, perhaps, to see what skill sets you have apart from those you developed in a work environment. Sometimes a Hobby Is
How to land a legal job: The dream cover letter for the future attorney
[bctt tweet=”Don’t expect anything if you don’t work for it” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] It seems obvious but a lot of the time we wish for things and then wait around for them to happen to us. This as opposed to grabbing opportunities and making things happen for ourselves. Particularly when it comes to seeking employment in the legal profession, competition is unavoidable. You need to differentiate yourself and be proactive in getting yourself that job of your dreams. Your first shot to get through those doors is just two pieces of paper, your CV, and your cover letter. What is it for? There is a common misconception that the cover letter is redundant and the magic is in the CV. However, if we analyse the objectives of these two documents, it becomes clear that the CV is a list of information. Important information, yes, but not necessarily relaying your personality and charisma. The cover letter should be just that, your emotive selling point and the document that can push you over the edge when the employer is stuck with a pool full of like-minded CVs. It, therefore, has the power to be a critical document in your pursuit of employment. You can take your list of achievements and translate them into relevant skills that your prospective employer is looking for. [bctt tweet=”The CV has important information but not it doesn’t relay your personality & charisma” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] The law degree will see everyone in much of the same position in terms of subjects. So the extracurricular activities and interest areas will be what makes you stand out – it is important to highlight this and make it clear in your cover letter. What should I include? The contents of the cover letter are dependent on what you are applying for. So before you jump into writing, take a few steps back and spend some time engaging with the requirements of the position you are applying for. Is it a position at a big corporate law firm? Then your cover letter should focus on your ability to work long hours and maintain attention to detail; your ability to translate constructive criticism to a change in your work product and motivated attitude (to name a few). If it is a position at a human rights non-government organization, then the cover letter will be completely different to the aforementioned. Mention motivated attitude again but now link it to previous experience highlighting your passion for the cause; determination to work regardless of the barriers and interest in following court decisions in this area and the trends you have seen. Don’t make your cover letter another list of skills in a different order. Take that vacation work experience and make it work for you! Highlight how you learnt the value of networking and even though it was a long work day, you are excited at the prospect of challenging yourself and learning more. [bctt tweet=”Don’t make your cover letter another list of skills in a different order ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Should someone else read through it? It can be nerve-wracking once you have poured your heart into this document to then expose yourself to a third party prior to sending it on to your prospective employer. However, there is a lot of value in getting insight as to whether you have sufficiently sold yourself for the position you are applying for. It is important for a third party to read your cover letter together with your CV to assess whether there are any achievements or skills that you have missed out on including or whether something else could be more relevant to include. Am I going to use this again? I think it is helpful to start off with a generic cover letter that covers some of the transferable skills that will be relevant regardless of the position. Then working off this, tweak the original to suit the specific position. Of course this means that your base cover letter needs to be cracker, and by cracker I mean a strong reflection of some of your core skills that differentiate you from the masses. Then for each new position you are applying for, go through the same process of analyzing the position and your suitability to it and amend your base cover letter accordingly. Selling yourself is never a bad thing [bctt tweet=”You are amazing, you just need your prospective employer to see that” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You are amazing, you just need your prospective employer to see that. The benefit in taking the time to reflect on the position and your ability to fulfil the position can result in you realizing that perhaps you are not suited to being a corporate law associate because you don’t like working long hours and you have not really had an interest in corporate law given your previous experience. Through spending more time and effort on the cover letter process, hopefully you manage to match yourself to position that will fulfil you and to which you are happily suited – it shouldn’t be a strain to sell yourself for a position.
Writing cover letters for jobs in media or communications
[bctt tweet=”Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about what you can do for them” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] The media industry is a very cutthroat place driven by extreme timelines and deadlines. That being said, most media professionals will not have time to read through pages of a cover letter explaining every single job you have ever had or what clubs you chaired in high school. They simply want to know these five things: Who are you? Why should we hire you? What do you know about us as an organization/company/institution/publication? What sets you apart from the rest? How do we find you? Put all this in a cover letter and you’re on your way to getting that interview call back you are hoping for. How to go about this though, is where most of us get it wrong. The world changes every day with each passing day, hour, minute and second, therefore it is imperative to keep up with the constant changes going on. What worked as a cover letter say 5/6 years ago, is definitely not the case today in 2017. Check out the dos and don’ts below which I hope will be a quick guide to writing a great cover letter. DO: Start off with a very intriguing first sentence The media/comms industry is all about being creative and thinking of different angles to put points across. Do not just say, “I’m applying for this position because I really need a job and I feel this would be it”… Let’s avoid the tired cliches, shall we? Start with what you know, which is your field, where you saw this vacancy and that you are interested in the position. This, first of all, gives them an assurance that their ads are being seen. Secondly, it tells them you know you fit the description by saying what you do already and lets them avoid wasting time reading the entire letter only to find out you don’t even know what you are applying for. DON’T: Start writing out a detailed description of your resume or LinkedIn profile By the time an editor, HR officer or head of department is receiving your cover letter, he/she has already looked at your resume. Do not waste time filling cover letters with repetitive content. DO: Tailor your cover letter to the job description Generic cover letters are a lazy way of applying for a job and they can be sniffed out from a mile away. A good example during my time working at an NGO, I was tasked with the job of going through various applications that had come in and had to cut them down to at least seven from 30 files. Out of the 30, half the group had exactly the same cover letter, copied and pasted from a popular career website, just different names and sent on different dates. That saved me a lot of time in terms of evaluation but it cost those candidates a job because they did not bother to actually write a detailed cover letter. Answer the questions they are asking by saying exactly how you fit the job requirements and you can provide one or two examples of what you have done in relation to the position. [bctt tweet=”Applying for a job in media/communications? Here are tips to write a stellar cover letter ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] DON’T: Go overboard with selling yourself Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about what you can do for them. Focus on that. Don’t talk so much about where you went to school, or the accolades you achieved. In this industry particularly, your honours, summa cum laude nod, distinction… aren’t prioritized as much. Someone with a Ph.D. can just as easily be outshone by a freshly graduated senior from college, it all boils down to efficiency, skill and how badly you want this job. Show them you are worth the investment, don’t tell them what they could have easily looked up on Google. DO: Your research Find out all you can about the place you are applying to. Talk to them about their visions, their values, their goals. Show them how adding you to their team will contribute to bringing about even better communication campaigns or how efficient of a designer/copy writer/editor you are thus providing a fresh approach to their brand/publication/business. Show them you know them and that you are ready to not change things around, but contribute to an already well-established organization. DON’T: Have grammatical errors None whatsoever. Cross all your Ts, dot all your I’s, have every comma, period and apostrophe properly placed. Proof-read your letter once you are done writing to make sure there are no typos, spelling errors etc. Have someone else check it as well to have a fresh set of eyes on it. There have been cases where an entire application has been cast aside due to one single typo in the cover letter. This industry is very detailed in the work they do and a simple mistake such as wrong spelling or a missing piece of information can cost them millions in the long run. A cover letter with grammar mistakes shows you are not meticulous and are sloppy with your work thus a liability to the company. DO: Be brief I’ll reiterate the concept of time. Most people in these industries will most likely skim through these applications than actually read through them. They will look for the five things mentioned above and tick off or cross out where appropriate and move on. Anything more than a page will not be considered at most organizations because again, no one has time to read through all that. Do be brief and concise yet include every detail you deem important to you and them on there. The art of paraphrasing comes in handy when applying to fields such as these. [bctt tweet=”A cover letter to the UN will be very different from a cover letter to a travel magazine” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] DON’T: Forget to provide contact information If
Webinar with Odunayo (PushCV): Writing your cv and cover letter for your dream job (July 13)
What do the first six seconds of your CV say to a recruiter? If you’re attending many job interviews but never get a call back from employers, we’re about to solve your job hunt misery. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how much skills you possess, having a bad CV and NO cover letter can end your chances for a job in no time. [bctt tweet=”Learn all you need to know from @OdunEweniyi about rewriting your CV and cover letter. (July 13)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Now, whether you’re planning to write your CV yourself or get a professional writer, you also need to understand the difference between your CV and cover letter and know how to construct and present both to potential employers. We’ll be chatting with tech founder and Chief Operations Officer of PushCV – Odunayo Eweniyi on Thursday, July 13th, about how to get the attention of recruiters, through your CV and cover letter. Odunayo launched PushCV for both employers and job seekers – to fully harness the power of technology in the search for the perfect candidate or the perfect job. Register for this webinar below. Some of the topics we’ll cover Techniques for Job application Rewriting your CV and cover letter How to get the attention of a recruiter in 6 seconds (Presentation) Interviewing processes every job seeker must know of Webinar Details: Date: Thursday, July 13th, 2017 Time: Lagos 1pm // Joburg 2pm // Nairobi 3pm Place: We’ll send you the link to watch once you register Watch here: About Odunayo Odunayo Eweniyi is the Chief Operations Officer of Sharphire Global Limited – which owns subsidiary companies like PushCV, Piggybank.ng and FrontDesk. Odun, as she is called, is very passionate about education, employment and most importantly, female empowerment, which enabled her to work with her team to build products to achieve that goal over the past 4 years. She graduated with a first class degree in Computer Engineering from Covenant University. She loves to write a lot, and when she’s not working or eating, she’s watching TV shows.