Been quiet here for a bit as I’ve been running at maximum BBotE production capacity, non-stop, since March 21st and still have quite a way left to go yet. But I want to take a moment to have you meditate upon a thought I had several years back that came back up again today: The Black Resume.

The Black Resume is a term I came up with (perhaps unwittingly borrowed) when lamenting to a friend about the vast amount of things I know how to do, skills that definitely contribute to my being a useful worker and provide keen insights into the human condition, that I would never list on my resume/CV when applying for a job in my chosen field. Things that invariably come up later when explaining how I knew about or how to do something.

For example, a far from exhaustive and non-incriminating list: bartending, amateur rocketry, nitroglycerin/explosives manufacture, amateur demolition, encyclopaedic knowledge of “unpleasant history”.

I have to admit, when written down the Black Resume pleases me more than my real one. These are things that make me a more whole, interesting, and happy person which makes me a better worker in my genuine trade…but these are things HR would have trouble quantifying/evaluating.

How about you?  What’s yours look like?