Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
A week long bike tour is not a trans America solo tour, sorry. And thinking most non riders think it's no big deal has not been my experience discussing bike tours with others.
And, if someone who does bicycle tours doesn't call back because someone mentions bicycle touring on a resume there is definitely something wrong there.
Places I would not want to work.
And it is my point that you are looking at this from a very subjective angle. It has been my experience that most people don't really care that much at all about other's people recreational activities or free time accomplishments, especially when hiring, but this is all anecdotal on both sides.
Just to take your point and show how it could be interpreted differently, I could very easily consider someone who has no problem being on a solo tour for three months as someone who may well not get on well in a team setting.
But of course, people here are focusing on the objective "tour" instead of the subjective "skills". I would not talk about the tour as such, rather, I would talk about the skills I learned/possessed by doing it and how they are transferable to the job. All resumes must pass certain requirements for consideration (being similar) but after that it's really about what sets you apart.
If you have years in the field and many professional qualifications then the bike tour probably doesn't matter. But I sense that is not the case with the OP.
I agree with Alan S, the skills to accomplish a bicycle tour are really no different than the skills necessary to plan any vacation (outside the obvious physical fitness necessities). At least for my job and life, my homebrewing has a lot more relevant skills to my job (scheduling, inventory and equipment management, sourcing obscure items, paying immaculate attention to detail to every step of the process, fixing and maintaining and improving mechanics, heck I'm even adapting some of my test equipment for brewing use, and half the engineers in the office does it), but that is not going on my resume anytime soon.
I don't discount that it could be a positive to the right person, I just question how many of those people really exist in a hiring position, and think there are just as many people to whom it will look like a negative if we are talking about a basic corporate/office setting. There are many places it could look excellent, too, it is all simply about tailoring your resume for the positions you are applying for.