Applying for a job means showing your best face, highlighting your experience and skills. But how transparent should you be? Is it a good bet to mention your passions and hobbies?
She had the profile and the experience, but she shouldn't have mentioned her passion. This is the sad moral of this ousted candidacy, reported by the American site Upworthy. The story features a senior recruiter receiving an applicant. The interview is going wonderfully, until the candidate mentions her availability. She explains that she could take up her duties quickly, just after a long-planned short trip. “His “mistake” was to give details of this trip”specifies the media. The destination in question is a convention dedicated to fans of the science fiction series Star Trek. Crippling for the decision-maker, who would have considered that this detail revealed the “laziness” of her interlocutor.
Posted by a colleague of the recruiter on the Reddit forum, this anecdote generated numerous comments highlighting the absurdity of this conclusion, which nevertheless raises a question: should you talk about your passions on your CV or in an interview? Ptisham Tazi, trainer and coach in techniques and job search, assures us that yes: “This is one of the points that can differentiate the candidate. Skills remain keywords associated with professions. Hobbies speak to personality and appetites. » Talk about it yes, but not just any way.
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Beware of ordinary passions
For our recruitment expert, informing us about a “boat” passion would amount to “shoot yourself in the foot”. Including cinema, travel or reading in the leisure section is far too vague: “It needs to be clarified. If it's reading, for example, you have to put the type of work. It seems more authentic when you specify. » Be careful, however, not to settle with reality, due to lack of original activity. During an interview, the recruiter will look for what the candidate does not necessarily want to show. “You shouldn’t put a hobby in for the sake of a hobby. It's used to detect abilities. We need to be able to talk about it”insisted Ptisham Tazi.
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It's discussed
The subject is generally addressed by recruitment managers, who look for “that little extra” in terms of personality. “There are some who start with leisure, because it takes the burden off maintenance”notes the trainer. What if it’s evaded? “The candidate can talk about it himself. »
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However, some passions may seem more difficult to embrace than others. But, according to Ptisham Tazi, this is no reason to ignore them. “You have to know how to explain. Say where we find pleasure, how we see it. If it is taxidermy, we can say that it is the idea of restoring a beautiful appearance to the animal or allowing the owner to maintain a better image. The recruiter must not stop at representations. His job is to dig deep and ask the candidate questions. » SO Star Trekwhatever the recruiter's personal opinion, should not have posed a problem. The company may have missed out on a golden profile with this hasty judgment.
