I interview a lot of people. I also find that they’re surprised that I’ve read their resumes and want to talk about some small fact that is in small type way down at the bottom. And I’m always surprised that they’re surprised. Those little things, interests, hobbies, first jobs and special skills are the things that make people interesting. There are a lot of people who have had a lot of jobs working on a lot of clients. But how many people claim that they create ‘shiny, empowering, intuitive user experiences.’ I instantly wanted to hire this woman.

Here are a couple of thing that are on some resumes that are sitting on my desk.

Interest: Hiking, Danish Industrial Design, Humor, Organization and Facial Hair. (I think he was surprised when I asked about his favorite style of facial hair.)

Other: Grammar, Sudoku, Pop Culture Trivia, Ukrainian and Spanish. (A lot of pop culture trivia in the Ukraine?)

In My Free Time: Ultimate Frisbee, long-distance running, reading and baking cookies. (It was the cookies that got my attention.)

About me: Even though I’m from the South, I don’t have a Southern accent, and I’m certainly not a Republican. (Welcome to a Blue State.)

Other: I’m a copywriter who promises never to use ellipses in any of my headlines. (OMG, this fed right into one of my copywriting pet peeves….)

Summary: I work well in groups and play well with teammates. Yo, ho, ho, it’s the copy life for me! (She had me right up until the time she used the exclamation point.)

About me: If I were a betting man, I would bet that I named something in your medicine cabinet. If you are a woman, I probably named your phone. (Ironically, he didn’t name anything in either my medicine cabinet or my phone – does that make me subhuman?)

About me: I’m a digital technology geek who actually likes being out in the sunlight. But only some of the time. (I tested him by interviewing him at 8 AM.)

Skills: Marathons, Dancing, proofreading and exchanging pleasantries. (Oh very nice, you’re looking fabulous today.)

Bonus Info: I’ve managed to become a licensed stockbroker, a licensed real estate agent, an award winning bartender and a published writer. (This is advertising, the bartender part is an important bonus skill.)

Activities: Avid ultimate Frisbee player (college captain), cooking international foods, urban sustainability, playing sports, traveling and hip hop. (I think we should start an agency ultimate Frisbee team.)

But this one is my favorite:

Skills: Proficient in a lot of stuff that you probably won’t understand. (I loved the honesty of this digital technologist.)

So there you have it. If you’re planning to interview with me, expect that I will have looked at your resume. And don’t put anything on the piece of paper that you don’t want to talk about. Cheers.

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