But on the other hand, being introduced as from Saskatchewan makes everyone think you're a banjo picking inbred, so you really can't win either way.DHicton wrote:Yeah, people around here have a real bug up their asses and aren't nearly as friendly as folks from Saskatchewan, which is why I had no qualms about having Johnny introduce me as being originally from Regina.MDaunt wrote:I think Doug's comment is an accurate comment about the Greater Toronto job market. I have experienced it myself. Once I get outside of that absurdly self-conscious culture it becomes a huge plus.
Jeopardy! and your resume
Moderators: alietr, trainman, econgator, dhkendall
- dhkendall
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
"Jeopardy! is two parts luck and one part luck" - Me
"The way to win on Jeopardy is to be a rabidly curious, information-omnivorous person your entire life." - Ken Jennings
Follow my progress game by game since 2012
"The way to win on Jeopardy is to be a rabidly curious, information-omnivorous person your entire life." - Ken Jennings
Follow my progress game by game since 2012
- DHicton
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
So how ARE them Bombers doin' anyhow?dhkendall wrote:But on the other hand, being introduced as from Saskatchewan makes everyone think you're a banjo picking inbred, so you really can't win either way.DHicton wrote:Yeah, people around here have a real bug up their asses and aren't nearly as friendly as folks from Saskatchewan, which is why I had no qualms about having Johnny introduce me as being originally from Regina.MDaunt wrote:I think Doug's comment is an accurate comment about the Greater Toronto job market. I have experienced it myself. Once I get outside of that absurdly self-conscious culture it becomes a huge plus.
Y'all been talkin' to my cousin Bruce thar in Winterpeg. He don't give us no ree-speck neither.
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
For what it's worth, I'm in the process of applying to law school and during a casual conversation with an admissions rep from a Big 10 school, the rep mentioned WoF which lead to me talking about my audition and getting the letter. She highly encouraged me to put that in my resume when submitting applications with the reasoning that while I haven't appeared yet, at the very least, it's something unique that will stand out. With that in mind, I can't see where an actual appearance on J! would hurt more than help.
- Spaceman Spiff
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I thought that was only the Maritimes folks (especially the Newfies).dhkendall wrote:But on the other hand, being introduced as from Saskatchewan makes everyone think you're a banjo picking inbred, so you really can't win either way.
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
My two cents is that in a highly competitive job market, you want something that will make you stand out. We are constantly sifting through resumes to look for something exceptional, and I know that for me, that was Jeopardy.
- alietr
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
By the way, good to have you "back", Dan.pdano wrote:My two cents is that in a highly competitive job market, you want something that will make you stand out. We are constantly sifting through resumes to look for something exceptional, and I know that for me, that was Jeopardy.
- ihavejeoprosy
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I would vote for including it. When you're interviewing, your personality and fit with the organization is also under review. The more interesting you seem, the better.
Please follow me on Twitter @Cinjeopardy
Total game show losings: $25 K
Total game show losings: $25 K
- SavoyGirl
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
dhkendall wrote:I remember there was a thread back in the Sony days entitled "Putting it on the resume?" and there was some great discussion there.
I believe I was the one who started that thread. I had taken a one-day class in resume writing and I had asked if I should include being a Jeopardy champ (one day) and after giving it some consideration, the instructor said no. I had already included it on my resume when I was interviewing for positions in the NYS court system and it had helped clinch me two jobs. The supervisor who hired me for my first job had pushed for me over the objections of the personnel people and even after he had transferred out two months after I started, he immediately remembered my J cred when I ran into him at an employee art show two years later. He introduced me to his parents and they were duly impressed. When I got my first promotion my new supervisor would present me to visitors as the resident Jeopardy champ. All in all, it's been something to distinguish me from the crowd and a special badge of achievement.
I remember someone on the original thread said if they had been on Jeopardy, not only would they put it on their resume, but would put it on their gravestone.
- georgespelvin
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I would think that putting a Jeopardy credit on a graduate school or college application is an entirely different situation than putting it in a job resume (I've never been on so I'm being neutral on the discussion of the value of including it on a job resume). I can't imagine how putting Jeopardy experience on a school application could hurt. They are looking for prestigious smart people.ten96lt wrote:For what it's worth, I'm in the process of applying to law school and during a casual conversation with an admissions rep from a Big 10 school, the rep mentioned WoF which lead to me talking about my audition and getting the letter. She highly encouraged me to put that in my resume when submitting applications with the reasoning that while I haven't appeared yet, at the very least, it's something unique that will stand out. With that in mind, I can't see where an actual appearance on J! would hurt more than help.
I used to be AWSOP but wanted to be more theatrical.
- mitchparov
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
It's on mine, and I don't think it ever hurt. Not sure if it helped in terms of making me a more desirable candidate, but it did have two benefits from my perspective: 1) a built-in somewhat-funny line. People would inevitably ask "how did you do on Jeopardy!?," to which I could respond "you'll notice it says 'contestant,' and not 'champion;'" and 2) a sort of quasi-reliable metric for how a potential employer struck a balance between a purely work/skills focused evaluation of candidates and a more human evaluation--whether an interviewer asked about J!, as opposed to using the time that would ordinarily have gone to that sort of chitchat to talk about some professionally relevant qualification always seemed, at least to me, to indicate something about the working environment of a potential job.
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
Used it (and Millionaire) to great effect. Definitely helped me get many more call backs in law school interviews and possibly my first job. Can't remember having any interviews after putting it on that didn't start with "So you were on Jeopardy!??" Great way to start an interview and be memorable...
- robertyknwt
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I had it on mine for a while. When I made the big career switch in 2008, though, I think I left it off, simply because I was encouraged to have only a one-page resume ('cause so much of my previous experience etc. wasn't particularly relevant to my new career as an actuary, and because I was applying for entry-level jobs).
But I had a great "in" to bring it up in my interview for my first actuarial job. One of the people who interviewed me was named Sarah denHartog, and so I had to ask her "Wasn't there a denHartog on Jeopardy?" "Oh yes, that's my husband Josh! He works here at <company>, too!" "Sweet! I was on Jeopardy too!" etc. etc. Got that job.
And for my current job in Phoenix AZ (which I started Dec. 2012, interviewed the previous September), I remember fitting it in somehow, can't remember the details.
So, on the resume? Depends. In the interview(s)? Definitely.
But I had a great "in" to bring it up in my interview for my first actuarial job. One of the people who interviewed me was named Sarah denHartog, and so I had to ask her "Wasn't there a denHartog on Jeopardy?" "Oh yes, that's my husband Josh! He works here at <company>, too!" "Sweet! I was on Jeopardy too!" etc. etc. Got that job.
And for my current job in Phoenix AZ (which I started Dec. 2012, interviewed the previous September), I remember fitting it in somehow, can't remember the details.
So, on the resume? Depends. In the interview(s)? Definitely.
5-time champion (1992), originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
Although I did use it on my most recent resume (and in some interviews), in a previous job a boss seemed intimidated by the fact that I'd been to one try-out. (That was even BEFORE I got on the show.) And I wound up getting fired by that boss. I can't help but wonder if it wasn't detrimental for that guy to think that I might be smarter than he was. (Yes, I think I was.)DHicton wrote:It can actually be an impediment.
Now I just use it more for laughs.
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I put it on my resume for my last job search (early 2012). I feel like it was an unqualified plus. I can be a little awkward, and it provided icebreakers for interviews and thus put me more at ease, especially for my big interview with the ED of my current employer. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty confident it got me callbacks I would not otherwise have gotten. And I think I lost at least one potential offer because it made my potential boss worry that I was smarter than him.
Like I said, an unqualified plus.
Like I said, an unqualified plus.
- JeopardyMom
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I have already informed my husband that my tombstone should read: "Devoted wife and mother, Jeopardy! champion"EugeneF wrote:It is an achievement worth citing, indeed, flaunting. I would even recommend it for epitaphs.
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
He and the offspring can debate the first part. The second part is indisputable.JeopardyMom wrote:I have already informed my husband that my tombstone should read: "Devoted wife and mother, Jeopardy! champion"EugeneF wrote:It is an achievement worth citing, indeed, flaunting. I would even recommend it for epitaphs.
Brian
...but the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.
If I had 50 cents for every math question I got right, I'd have $6.30 by now.
If I had 50 cents for every math question I got right, I'd have $6.30 by now.
- sarah0114
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I haven't put it on my resume yet, but I did bring up being in the contestant pool during my job interview a couple of months ago, and got the job! (Not sure the two are related, but it probably didn't hurt?)
- Rex Kramer
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
In my office, I have my diplomas on my wall and my photo with Alex on the bookcase. The students who come to me for advice never say, "Oh, did you go to Harvard?" or "You got your law degree from Georgetown?", but they almost all eventually say, "Wow, you were on Jeopardy!?" Then they listen to me.
Rex
Rex
- skullturf
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
I guess Harvard lets in about 2000 people per year, but Jeopardy only lets on about 400 people per year.
- RandyG
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Re: Jeopardy! and your resume
And Jeopardy! gets about 100,000 wannabes each year, while Harvard only gets 35,000.skullturf wrote:I guess Harvard lets in about 2000 people per year, but Jeopardy only lets on about 400 people per year.
If I didn't have a specific, very good reason in a specific situation, then I would always include it in a resume, bio, etc. I don't think it's ever failed to elicit a response, which, everything else being equal, is almost certainly what you want to happen.