# What "accomplishments" are not on your resume **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884 "2008-03-10T21:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/1 "2008-03-10T21:09:31Z")
Have any more or less relevant accomplishments in your life that will never go on your resume? I’ve been on the editorial board of several journals, they go on my resume. However, in college I edited our dorm magazine. We had a funny porn story, (with footnotes) some off color song parodies, and, best of all, a page with the current drug prices. The PTB were not happy. In a rare bit of good sense, I edited under a pseudonym. That achievement is not going anywhere near my c.v. Got any similar? ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/2 "2008-03-10T21:20:48Z")
My doctorate is not on my artistic resumé as a singer – it stops at my masters degree because people hiring opera singers tend to think more education = less talent. But it’s on my professional resumé for other things. ~fig ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/3 "2008-03-10T21:46:26Z")
The only place I would mention the play I wrote and directed at competition in high school would be if I were submitting something for publication. ---
**Author:** ![Eliphalet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eliphalet/32/9563_2.png) [@Eliphalet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eliphalet)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/4 "2008-03-10T21:49:17Z")
I run a convention for 2500 Sci-Fi geeks. I work in insurance. Geeks and insurance should never meet, as the geeks try to find new ways to warp the insurance people’s brains… So long as I work in this industry, it’ll never make my resume. Eli ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/5 "2008-03-10T22:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=Eliphalet] I run a convention for 2500 Sci-Fi geeks. I work in insurance. Geeks and insurance should never meet, as the geeks try to find new ways to warp the insurance people’s brains… So long as I work in this industry, it’ll never make my resume. Eli [/QUOTE] Small world, I used to run Minicon - oh, fifteen years ago or so. Very few people I work with know anything about that and I want to keep it that way. I was also a Festie - another thing not on my resume - though since that point in time I’ve had real career jobs fall off my resume - much less hobby jobs that are rumored to involve drugs and underage sex (I did neither, I know plenty of people who did both). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/6 "2008-03-10T23:31:19Z")
The fact that I won the Betty Crocker Search for Leadership in Family Living Award in high school. As I survey the total mess my house is right now (and usually is), I can assure you I am NOT a leader in family living! My jewelry business is going pretty well (although in the past two weeks I’ve gotten 2 rejections and one “wait listed” from juried shows I applied to ☹ ), but I’d never include that on a resume. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/7 "2008-03-11T00:12:59Z")
I took the fall for both my company AND the client when there was a marketing screwup. It’s okay, I volunteered to be the fall guy. It didn’t hurt my job, but it’s not something I’m going to list under “Professional Accomplishments.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/8 "2008-03-11T03:25:32Z")
As an undergrad I won an English Department award for a radio play that I wrote and produced (for a radio theater class). Someday I’ll find someone who can transfer reel-to-reel to tape/CD/MP3 and I’ll be able to listen to it again. 🙂 Senior year of college I was the station manager of our small FM station. In 1995 I had a short article published in _Catholic Digest_. Between 2003-2006 I started a Toastmasters Club at my company, was a club officer for three years (including President one year), was an Area Governor for one year (while serving as an officer in my own club), and sponsored/chartered a new club in my area (while Area Governor). All while I was also in grad school. (I include the Area Governor experience on my LinkedIn profile, but it’s never on my actual resume; however, I do include a 2004-2005 Toastmasters leadership award – as well as a leadership award nomination from my previous company – in an “Awards, Honors, and Certifications” section of my resume.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/9 "2008-03-11T03:56:15Z")
Past “accomplishment”-got tired of long nights on the flightline listening to the sweet sound of eight engines hitting the blast fence, so I started a drama group. Said drama group flopped because of a lack of funding and support…until I let the base commander’s son, Rusty, join us. Success! Funding, promotion, free transportation, and primo cast parties, all paid for by the U.S.A.F. Recently-running a 1600 fan science fiction convention. If I survive this, I plan on running the Saturday night bingo sessions at the local insane asylum. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/10 "2008-03-11T04:23:29Z")
Moderator, General Questions. I wonder what an employer would think if they saw half the threads on here 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/11 "2008-03-11T05:02:43Z")
I was a working stand up comedian, I do not list it on my resume as it is not relevant to my career and tends to give people a skewed view of who I am. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/12 "2008-03-11T09:49:49Z")
8 years as a writer and editor in a MUD. I learned how to write descriptions (my own editor actually taught me, unlike my school teachers); managed teams of folks with all kinds of insecurities and over-securities; got stuff done that nobody else had been able to do… But I’m not going to try and explain it to someone who thinks computer gamers are all male teens about to go Columbine on the world 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BrknButterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BrknButterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrknButterfly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/13 "2008-03-11T13:22:35Z")
The letter of commendation from A police chief and town council for a previous job I had. I use to be a 911 dispatcher for 3 years and got the commendation for getting a woman out of her burning house. Something I am really proud of, but since I don’t work in that field anymore, there is no point in putting it on my resume. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/14 "2008-03-11T13:38:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Small world, I used to run Minicon - oh, fifteen years ago or so. Very few people I work with know anything about that and I want to keep it that way. I was also a Festie - another thing not on my resume - though since that point in time I’ve had real career jobs fall off my resume - much less hobby jobs that are rumored to involve drugs and underage sex (I did neither, I know plenty of people who did both). [/QUOTE] Interesting. I’ve been running Albacon for a dozen years and was on the committee for World Fantasy Con last year. I could see putting it on a resume, though. It shows the ability to organize an event. I also put my novel and short story publications on all resumes; it’s gotten me a couple of interview I never would have gotten. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/15 "2008-03-11T15:33:55Z")
‘Subway Musician’ will never be on my singing resume because it just sends the wrong signal to most orchestras and opera companies. It also is something I don’t mention when I’m looking for a teaching spot at a music conservatory. Too bad, it was a great experience for three years, and because you have to audition to get the gig in Toronto, there’s a certain bizarre legitimacy to the post. There are just too many people who think it’s one millimetre away from begging. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/16 "2008-03-11T15:42:53Z")
I organized a labour union when I was in my twenties. I tend to leave that off. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/17 "2008-03-11T15:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] you have to audition to get the gig in Toronto [/QUOTE] Subway musicians in Toronto have to _audition_? I’m moving to Canada! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/18 "2008-03-11T16:35:49Z")
Many years ago I worked in a venom laboratory, extracting venom from snakes, spiders and toads. I leave that off of my resume. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/19 "2008-03-11T16:40:24Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] Subway musicians in Toronto have to _audition_? I’m moving to Canada! 😃 [/QUOTE] ..and thank Og for that, because it means that I get to listen to some pretty decent tunes while I’m waiting for my bus/streetcar/subway, rather than someone trying to play “Three Blind Mice” on a dollar-store recorder.\* My resume no longer makes mention of a brief stint with a competitor of my current employer. It’s not that I’ve got anything to hide, but I don’t like constantly explaining in interviews that I jumped ship after 2 months because the position sucked and the commute was too long. - the wind instrument, I mean, as opposed to a tape player. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884/20 "2008-03-11T17:00:45Z")
I do not list that I was a busker, once sold little cardboard Taiwanese snakes on the street, did a day’s work as a mandolinist at a Japanese museum, or any of my paltry professional acting jobs on my marketing-oriented résumé. ETA: or that I was once a wheelchair model for a catalog, and had to pretend I had cerebral palsy. I do, however, mention that I did the voiceover for a Dunkin’ Donuts ad in the Philippines. “Moist… rich… tasty. Golden brown and smothered with butter…” (Kind of how I’d like to view Kate Hudson’s ass.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-accomplishments-are-not-on-your-resume/440884.md?page=2)