So it's about that time when I need to actually polish up my resume again so I don't totally forget what I've done since the last time I've done it, and I came to the realization that I think a ton of the things I've learned and done over the last year that would help me in an interview aren't related to my actual job at all. The only problem is, I don't think putting any of them on my resume would exactly be a smart move.
Over the last 20 months, I've helped to rejuvenate my corporation on Eve and take it from having twenty or so members, loosely affiliated and without a real cohesive strategy, to where we're now a corporation of 50 or so well-motivated people able to work well together, fight against corporations and alliances much larger and much better funded than ourselves, with a profile that makes us one of the better known small corps in the game. During most of that time, I've been the person in charge of recruitment and publicity, and I've had a fairly large role in shaping our corporate policy. The only problem is, I don't think putting that on my resume is such a good idea, at least for most jobs. Maybe if I was applying for a job at CCP, but I don't think I'm doing that real soon.
Being involved in NSDM, even in the peripheral way I have been so far -- let's face it, even among players have a long way to go before I'm a standout -- has helped too. Facilitating the few times I have and going out afterwards and taking part in the discussion with Dan, Mark, and everyone else about what went right, what went wrong, and how it could be better has really given me a lot of insight into how you can manage activities like that with that many people and how changes in the game can affect how it is played. Admittedly, NSDM could probably go in my resume if I was more deeply involved, but I definitely don't feel like I do enough with it to actually put it on there -- but it has been something that has really changed how I see things like group dynamics.
The worst part is, those are the sorts of things I find interesting, considerably more than the system administration I do on a daily basis, but when you look at my resume, you'd never know it. Even in my job here, what I like is taking various pieces and fitting them together, trying to find the best way to meet the needs of the service managers I support (without sacrificing the integrity of our infrastructure and procedure). It's not so much how cool a new technology is for its own sake, but how that can be used with other things or in new ways. Unfortunately, I think that whole process is hard to sum up and describe in a good way in a cover letter, and it's really hard to get that across in a resume.
Some days, I wish I was a lot more of a techie, because it's easy to put a list of the 10 languages you know on a resume and then impress people with how knowledgeable you are or how complex the programs are you wrote. It's not so easy to demonstrate understanding of "soft" topics, especially when you don't really deal with them on a daily basis in your current position -- and you will have a hard time getting a job in that kind of a field when you don't have any experience in it. The worst part is that you can hardly blame someone for hiring someone with 5 years of proven experience and a professional track record over someone with no obvious skill in the area.
I've resolved not to get upset about this anymore though. If I keep working on the things I like, eventually I'll be able to parlay that into aspects of any job I have, even this one. More experience and knowledge is never a bad thing. And if I can have a good time collecting it, so much the better.
Over the last 20 months, I've helped to rejuvenate my corporation on Eve and take it from having twenty or so members, loosely affiliated and without a real cohesive strategy, to where we're now a corporation of 50 or so well-motivated people able to work well together, fight against corporations and alliances much larger and much better funded than ourselves, with a profile that makes us one of the better known small corps in the game. During most of that time, I've been the person in charge of recruitment and publicity, and I've had a fairly large role in shaping our corporate policy. The only problem is, I don't think putting that on my resume is such a good idea, at least for most jobs. Maybe if I was applying for a job at CCP, but I don't think I'm doing that real soon.
Being involved in NSDM, even in the peripheral way I have been so far -- let's face it, even among players have a long way to go before I'm a standout -- has helped too. Facilitating the few times I have and going out afterwards and taking part in the discussion with Dan, Mark, and everyone else about what went right, what went wrong, and how it could be better has really given me a lot of insight into how you can manage activities like that with that many people and how changes in the game can affect how it is played. Admittedly, NSDM could probably go in my resume if I was more deeply involved, but I definitely don't feel like I do enough with it to actually put it on there -- but it has been something that has really changed how I see things like group dynamics.
The worst part is, those are the sorts of things I find interesting, considerably more than the system administration I do on a daily basis, but when you look at my resume, you'd never know it. Even in my job here, what I like is taking various pieces and fitting them together, trying to find the best way to meet the needs of the service managers I support (without sacrificing the integrity of our infrastructure and procedure). It's not so much how cool a new technology is for its own sake, but how that can be used with other things or in new ways. Unfortunately, I think that whole process is hard to sum up and describe in a good way in a cover letter, and it's really hard to get that across in a resume.
Some days, I wish I was a lot more of a techie, because it's easy to put a list of the 10 languages you know on a resume and then impress people with how knowledgeable you are or how complex the programs are you wrote. It's not so easy to demonstrate understanding of "soft" topics, especially when you don't really deal with them on a daily basis in your current position -- and you will have a hard time getting a job in that kind of a field when you don't have any experience in it. The worst part is that you can hardly blame someone for hiring someone with 5 years of proven experience and a professional track record over someone with no obvious skill in the area.
I've resolved not to get upset about this anymore though. If I keep working on the things I like, eventually I'll be able to parlay that into aspects of any job I have, even this one. More experience and knowledge is never a bad thing. And if I can have a good time collecting it, so much the better.
Over the last 20 months, I've helped to rejuvenate my corporation on Eve and take it from having twenty or so members, loosely affiliated and without a real cohesive strategy, to where we're now a corporation of 50 or so well-motivated people able to work well together
"20 months ago, I joined a small recreational club of twenty members and have helped it to grow to over twice that number. I have also helped to streamline our activities in such and such a way and learned blah blah blah other things about organisational strategy and whatever the else you want to put."
It's all about HOW you say it :)
Yeah, but where do you put that? Your cover letter, I guess? It's not really "work experience."
Put it into whatever you want to call the section. There aren't strict rules for the format or content of a resume.
"Other Interests"
"Interesting Facts About Me"
"Non-work Experience"
"Stuff I Care About"
If it's important to you, and represents skills that could benefit your career or employer, work it in. The only times it might be a negative would be at the most tight-assed corporate environments, and you wouldn't want to be there anyway.