They really are going the extra mile.
Athletes transitioning to corporate roles are embellishing their resumes with marathon and other fitness accomplishments to stand out.
Brad Thomas, a New York City-based recruiter, told the Wall Street Journal that applicants pushing personal data is a bona fide trend in the hiring space.
He recalled one engineer who thought they would be a lock for a role for reasons beyond the necessary skills. Instead, the candidate thought running 15 marathons, among other races, would land the gig. They also boasted a sportswear sponsorship.
However, when Philadelphia-based career coach Eliot Kaplan warns that in the wrong context, an applicant can fall into the shower early.
“If you’re applying for a job at Equinox, it’s obviously a different story, but if you’re just applying for a normal job, what are you trying to say with these things?” he told the WSJ. Thomas added that it can also come across as not-so-nice bragging.
“And it might offend me if I’m a sedentary type of person.”
Regardless, it seems that many applicants are keeping pace with the trend.
Jaclyn Amaro, a 36-year-old part-time public relations professional in New Jersey, included her six marathon finishes and other fitness feats when she applied for her current job.
“I want to show a bit of my character and personality, to show that I am hardworking and ambitious,” she told the media. “I put it there as a way to show that I have passions and I’m working on something.”
A physical therapist from Nashville, 29-year-old Jacob Travis, brought the debate to the public a few weeks ago.
During one run, he posted a video defending the practice.
“You’re going to learn a lot more about me from the fact that I trained and ran a marathon than the fact that I was the secretary of my fraternity my freshman year of college,” Travis said on camera.
“You look at the “marathoner” and the employer immediately knows that this guy is an idiot. But he’s a determined idiot and I want him on my team.”
Some executives, like John Major, vice president of Norgay Partners, also see the rationale in the “new wave” trend.
“It shows that you have the ability to be intrinsically motivated to do something you’re not told to do.”
He added, however, that it mainly applies to lower-level applicants and not to those eye-popping positions.
However, not all athletes who work corporate jobs are racing to put their time on a resume.
Chicago marathon runner Kamille Fajardo, a 32-year-old tax consultant, called her remarkable achievement “a very private and personal achievement.”
Additionally, she fears that diminishing athletic achievement will only feed into a successful culture and create unfair worker expectations.
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Image Source : nypost.com