appalachian trail look good on a resume?

[Del Q]

Definite plus and a great point of differentiation, as much as a potential employer is picking you, you are picking them as well, getting ready to exhange your life's hours for dollars. Agree that this could get you an interview but from there it is up to you!

[Blissful]

I put that I hiked the entire length of the AT in my bio on my writing proposals. The one editor I've worked with is very impressed by it. When I finished it in '07 she even put it on the editorial blog.

[johnhump]

the job i would be trying to get would hopefully be something geared towards the outdoors

[kayak karl]

the other side is im 55. im hiking this year. not the AT, but hiking. i get calls every week. ARE YOU READY TO WORK AGAIN? they are my age and envy me. the housing development in the Philippines is almost ready for me to manage.
"Backapacing been bery, bery good to me."

[RockDoc]

If it's like the typical city people I've met, as soon as you say you were hiking the AT, they will ask if you met the Governor of South Carolina while you were out there...

Let's just say the conversation was not very satisfying from my point of view and I probably should have never brought it up.

But generally on a resume I would favor anything that shows personal initiative. It's so rare in so many people.

[Blackbird]

... then skeptically curious as to how they were able to "drop out" for six months with no income. ...

Because life is all about chasing and spending and getting the money, of course, right?
Nothing is more antithetical to that mindset than hiking the AT.

[roguedeadguy]

Anyone who completes a thru-hike demonstrates the ability to adapt, and that's valuable in any job. Hikers tend to have a little MacGuyver in them. Minimal gear, long distances, unpredictable situations. While those traits may not be valued in a "do-as-I-say" job at McDonald's, they're quite valuable in many other professions.

[Press]

letting an employer know that you took six months off to hike in the woods and commune with hippies might not be the best corse of action.
the only "real world" people that know i long distance hike outside of family are other hikers/backpackers.
I find that other normal people do not take well to having backpacking's challenge and beauty explained to them. Therefore, when meeting new people (especially now that I am back in school) I specifically leave out that I can take care of myself while hiking for hundreds of miles at a time, and that I do not get lonely. I have found that most people are incredibly stupid, and that avoiding these otherwize embarassing conversations.

Friend, there're lots of long-distance hikers and runners all around you up there in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. A lot of them are the people doing the hiring, especially in Charlottesville. While you may not get a job or make a friend because of the hike, it won't hurt and may help if they are people you want to be friends with in the first place.

[Lone Wolf]

thru-hikin' in 6 months is just havin' the time and money. not really a major feat. now running a 50 or 100 mile ultra is noteworthy

[tcha5782]

The one-year anniversary of the start of my hike is coming up and I have been thinking about the experience a lot. Not a thru-hike, but I went as far as I planned in as much time as I had budgeted. I think just about all points on this thread are valid but I wanted to offset what I felt like was a trend towards "don't put this on your resume."

I started the hike right after I decided on an MBA graduate program and ended it about 2 weeks before that program started. Once I got to school and started sending my resume out to companies in search of a summer internship, I put my love of long-distance hiking and the miles I had hiked this past summer at the bottom of my resume under the "additional/interests" section. The trip has separated me from many of my classmates and many of my interviewers have brought it up (and I've done fairly well in my job search).

I respectfully disagree with whoever said that recruiters want robots who are money-hungry and that this would detract from my ability to help my company be successful. In fact I think many of my interviewers have been impressed that I am more than your typical business school student whose goal in life is to be a money machine, and that I have some passion for life which comes through with the hike and other points on my resume. Most importantly, I think anyone writing a resume should think about what the overall message is that he/she is trying to convey. I have enough points that show my professional competence and skills and wanted to show something unique and interesting in the personal section, while also having the chance to talk about my ability to be motivated, patient, to plan, to push my self, etc.

And to all the questions in the quote below, I can think of positive ways to respond to each question and put myself in a positive light. Interviews are all about how you spin your story and sell yourself.

in an interview i would ask this, "thats nice. are you planning other hikes? you didn't like this hike? not hiking again? will you want another 6 month leave? why did you hike? why did you go to college? you wanted a break from what? you sure you can handle this job? ............... NEXT

[DapperD]

I put that I hiked the entire length of the AT in my bio on my writing proposals. The one editor I've worked with is very impressed by it. When I finished it in '07 she even put it on the editorial blog.

Blissful, you are a writer and I can see this. But unfortunately I agree with the other's that stated that most companies could probably care less in regards to completing a thru-hike, and most likely taking months and months off from the "real" workaday world will be viewed in a negative light by many potential employers today. With 5 job seeker's for every job in this miserable economy, if they even think you may be the type to want to take time off in the future for "whatever", you will be waiting a long, long time for that phone call back.

[paistes5]

The responses that say it's a negative are a bit perplexing to me. I'm new to all of this, however I am one of those that has been in the office for a number of years.

I can say absolutely, without a doubt, all things being equal, you will get an interview. That's all you get, but it will absolutely separate you from all of the drones of your peers. If I thru hiked, I'd proudly put it on my resume without any fears.

[Tilly]

No way. Unless it's something outdoor related and applicable. Most people won't even have the faintest idea of what thruhiking is, anyway.

I would even say it's negative. I know my employer wouldn't see it as a positive. Where I work the more robotic you are the better.

[fiddlehead]

the job i would be trying to get would hopefully be something geared towards the outdoors

Then, i would do it.
I was going to say that it really depends on the job.

If you are going to work in some corporate cubicle, definitely not (they may think that you will get bored with the cubicle life and go on another journey)

But, if you want to impress someone one that you can do physical things, have stamina, get the job done, etc.
I would not only include it but describe it a bit.

Good Luck!

I could never work for someone else anyway.
and if I did, it would be something I really like to do and would do my best to make them be aware of THAT fact. Because THAT is important.

[Feral Bill]

As I am currently job hunting. I've just read The 6 Reasons You'll Get the Job by Debera Abgel MacDougal abd Elisabeth Harney Sanders-Park. The book is chock full of good advise. I highly recommend it. In a nutshell, you need to learn enough about each employer you are looking at to know whether an AT thru hike goes in the individualized resume for that company or night.

Wish me luck on my big interview next week.

FB

[johnhump]

hmm interesting posts how well would this look on a college resume?

[CinciJP]

Worse than nothing? Wow.

I've hired (and fired) many people in my career. I have to say that something different/unique that shows a person can stick with and achieve a goal (i.e. a 6 month thru-hike) would not be a negative. Weeding through dozens of resumes something like this would stand out.

I agree Second, I'd phrase it as an accomplishment of a goal, something you had to work for and strive to achieve, the obstacles you overcame, etc. That would tell me, as the hiring manager, you're not going to just give up when a problem looks tough. IMHO

[takethisbread]

i would be highly impressed, and when i hire folks for my company i would rate thru hiking above a college degree, particularly if it were finished in less than 6 months.

I have yet to get an applicant who has done so.

[CaptChaos]

Hello Everyone:

I have really enjoyed this thread. What an interesting question.

It really depends on two people and what their views are. The interviewer and their personal likes and dislikes and the person applying for the position.

My son recevied the Medal of Honor with Crossed Palms for Lifesaving from the Boy Scouts when he was in High School. When it came time after college for him to create a resume and start searching for employment he did not want to put his honor down. I had to explain to him that what made him any different from 10,000 other college students coming out of college. He was up against 9,999 others for a position. He did list his honor and it was the source of conversation in many of his interviews. He is now working for the government and since his desire is law enforcement it might have helped him in his interview. But it was never pointed out that it made a difference one way or the other.

Years ago I had in my resume that I liked 18th dynasty history of Egypt. I had an interview and the manager wanted to know why I liked the 18th dynasty. When I told him why he told me that he was sure he knew the answer but he wanted to see me anyway. It got me an interview but it did not get me the position.

If the person doing the hiring is not a people person and really does not care about the person that they are interviewing then your reference to your journey will mean nothing. As a backpacker myself I would be interested in the reference and i would be impressed that you made the trip and completed it. It still does not imply to me that you can do the job but I would be impressed and it would be an ice breaker that we could talk about as we warmed up our conversations.

I worked with a guy once who knew nothing about computers and was in reality lost when it came to working with our customers. But he got the position because he was a college football player for a big team and the hiring manager was impressed that he played football and he liked to talk about the "glory" days. As far as the job went he was clueless as to computers and marketing. Again, it is the likes and dislike of the person doing the interviewing and the person on the other end in selling themselves.

A lot of times the course of the interview will determine if you need to talk about your experience. If the job had a lot of planning or logistics in the positon then I might talk about all of the planning and the supply logistics that I had to do for my trip. Its related and worth talking about. If not then just let it lie since no one wants to talk about it.

On it's own merit, hiking the appalachian trail, will most likely not get you a job. But being able to express your trip to your interviewer might break the ice for more conversation.

CaptChaos

[d.o.c]

thru-hikin' in 6 months is just havin' the time and money. not really a major feat. now running a 50 or 100 mile ultra is noteworthy

thru hike is still a feat .. and you know that.