There's a hobbies/activities section....and I'm going to include biking in there as one of them... and then I get to write a short description (up to 2 paragraphs or so). Any ideas?

I hurtle myself through traffic, disobeying laws, scaring pedestrians and offending everyone around me while pounding sparks and smoking blunts while on a bicycle that has no brakes.

If they don't hire you with that description, I don't know what's wrong with them.

Yeah I think it all depends on the position you are applying for. Get creative.

A+!

try to put it in terms that will flatter you instead of make
you look like a 'weirdo'. Elaborate on how healthy you are and
havent missed a day in 20 years 'cuz of the bike, etc.....
I only say 'weirdo' 'cuz thats the way Im percieved at my various jobs
for riding instead of carring.

"traffic won't ever be a problem" (well, for the most part)

leave it off. make up a nice lie about designing web sites or something

go for a ride with your potential boss.

"I am an avid cyclist."

And leave it open-ended.

Any employer that rides (or used to ride) road, mtb, bmx, track, fixie, recumbent, or whatever would like to read that.

I like this idea. Anyone tried something like this and got positive results?

say "cyclist" and not "biker" or "rider." cyclist has a very elite, roadie connotation. like you ride in spandex on weekends among people with whom you hobnob. let them think that you are a road cyclist. its elite, like golf, but more active. let them think "lance," not "messenger."

then again, why the hell are you putting your hobbies on your resume? if you need to fill space, make up jobs and get your friends to cover for you as references if need be.

oh, and say that you do charity rides

are you filling out an application or writing your own resume? I've always been told to leave hobbies and interests off of resumes.

I've heard this before as well, but in practice I have seen it used as good conversation banter (if the interviewer brings it up). It tends to lighten the mood after 100 business related questions.

Anyone agree?

I agree. Small talk is king.

There are 3 stages to the hiring process:

1) The resume: This is what gets you the job. Period. If you aren't qualified on that piece of paper..."NEXT!" and only the best qualified few make it to the next round.

2) The phone interview. This is to quiz you to verify and fact check the info on the resume to make sure that you didn't fluff too much.

3) The face-to-face interview. This is just to find out if you are "cool" enough to hang out with for 8 hours at a time in the office. This is where the small talk comes in.

People see my email address and proceed to check out my website (the domain of my email) before I come in and always ask me about sports photography.

depends on what sort of job/sector/boss. use judgement. for something competitive, make yourself sound extreemly competent and professional. they don't give a **** who you are and what you like. for something a bit more laid back where you can reasonably expect to be drinking beers with these people someday (and not hating it), I would still be wary. what if his kid got hit by a bus riding a bmx?

I have send out my second resume in last 8 years (the previous one got me my current job). The resume was pretty out of fashion format wise and included hobbies. Then, the potential employer wanted the resume in their modern format (without interests/hobbies) and I complied. Then, they called me to make me include hobbies as they were cool... Go figure.

Include hobbies, but be general. This makes the interviewer more likely to ask questions about it, and in a job interview, it's much more relaxing for me to talk about biking than it is to talk about what I liked least about in my last position. If you are in a thrash-metal band, just put down music. If you knit tapestries of famous executions and assassinations, just say needlepoint, etc.

man, this is so dead on true...we are looking for two new professors in our department, and this is exactly how it works.

on an older resume, i put something like this under "other interests":
biking and bike repair: coordinated local bike salvage group. salvaged, repaired, and loaned 35 bicycles over the course of a year. taught basic bike repair and maintenance to group of approx 40 people.

in re: resumes being the most important part of the hiring process


there are many who disagree completely, and feel that visits and phone calls get far more mileage than even the best resume

don't waste your time. concentrate on getting the serious part of your resumé right. it's the only bit that gets read.

not to the point where it would outweigh more practical considerations.

Also roughly how we get PhD students. Aside from a few obvious "get them here NOW" stars, we'll bring in the top 80ish% of applicants, weed out the unsavories, and 3) profit!

A little OT, but I include my music/band history on every resume I've put out. If you can show an employer that at age 20 you put together a three-piece, and ultimately sold a combined 30,000 releases and toured for 430 shows in two years you can go from there to talk about your first-hand experience with the DIY music model, talk about marketing and understanding the bigger picture, etc...