How to Answer the 'What's Not On Your Resume' Question

Let’s talk some more about interviews as it’s a molten hot job market out there

I want to talk about a question that doesn't really come up often in an interview, but I've often seen people get all nervous and stumble over this question

And the question is… what should I know about you that's not on your resume?

Firstly, no one's trying to catch you out or trying to find your secrets or hidden things

The question is often there to see how you handle awkward questions, or if you're willing to share more about you or maybe more of your outside-of-work personality

So, you can choose to answer this in several ways

One of the great ways is to talk about any volunteering you may do

If you volunteer and it's not on your resume (doesn't necessarily have to be) or you volunteer in an organisation that not many people know about then expand on that

In my case, for example, I volunteered for an organisation called Second Bite

Second Bite collects left over food from vendors at various markets and takes it to the Sacred Heart Mission

The Mission uses that excess food to cook meals for the homeless

I've always had a real affinity or desire to help homeless people and that started when I was really young

So, I would say, in the interview, I was affected by seeing homeless people on the streets of Cape town in South Africa where I grew up
 
I started working in homeless shelters in my teen years and when I migrated to Australia, I found something similar here

While it wasn’t work in a homeless shelter, I worked with an organisation aligned to feeding the homeless 

This is how I shared something that wasn’t on my resume but also why I did what I did

It's not super important to have on your resume - but it gives you that human relatability during an interview

The other quirky thing I used to share when I got asked that question was - I'm a mad Harry Potter fan

And I would tell people that I simply loved JK Rowling's imagination, loved the style of writing and have all the Harry Potter books, have seen all the movies many times and absolutely loved that piece of literature

Or you could say something like I'm a Shakespeare fan, or I love Jane Austin, or I love to write poetry

Perhaps you coach a kids soccer team because you really love seeing children develop and you’re a mad soccer fan, so you've combined the two - that's something worth sharing that’s not on your resume

Share some of what motivates you, some of your passions, some of your interests so you come across as a well-rounded human

It’s not a difficult question and there’s no reason to get worried or think that someone's trying to find out something you’re hiding

They’re simply trying to see how you handle questions that are a little off the script and learn a bit more about you

So don't worry about the question

I've just given you a couple of ways of how you could answer that question so have some sample answers ready and go ace your next interview to get the job, pay and perks you deserve