Non-Professional Work On Your Resume - It Is Valid Experience

We often overlook the non-professional work we do in our life.  It is easy to throw work experience on our resume when we got paid.  However, what about volunteer work or maybe even side-effects of living our life?  There is life experience we can lean on at times that will even put us ahead of the competition for a job or project.

There are a lot of people in the technical world that are either not good, or they do not like management tasks.  That means the experience you have managing people and projects can be a way to separate from the pack.  These skills can come from running a large family, scheduling reunions, or managing a sports team.  You likely will have experience with "difficult conversations," whether it was telling a child "no" or cutting someone from tryouts.

These are everyday tasks and roles among all of us.  However, many people fail to mention them.  That is an opportunity for you to highlight your skills and how you see them applying to a job.  These are areas where you can start a great conversation as well.  Throw a bit of your personality into those descriptions of your experience.

While these types of experience and skills are valuable, they still should be differentiated from professional experience.  It is always better to do something within your career.  On the other hand, we want credit for all we have done.  This obstacle is easy to overcome by providing a section on your brand site or resume that highlights your hobbies, pastimes, and non-professional work.  You can treat these as a job and give a description of the skills learned and used.

When I hear stories from others, I am often amazed at what they have overcome.  These challenges can make us a better employee in many ways.  Yes, some of your experiences can be held against you.  Nevertheless, those can often be a way to distinguish yourself and even impress those that are evaluating you.  Surviving a deadly disease or winning a blue ribbon for your culinary skills are among those things that are easy to leave off a resume.  However, they may be the extra edge you need.

Episode Challenge: Update your resume or branding site with a personal section (hobbies, pastimes, sports, etc.).

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