Saying your a cyclist increases your chance of a job.

[ebikeerwidnes]

ROund here there are lots of really good looking cycle paths - wide - well surfaced, properly placed
BUT
one goes through an industrial estate - ona shared cycle path/pavement - so every factory has gates going through it - and every gate has a dropped kerb. But every dropped kerb has a drop of about an inch - so you go BUMp BUMP on every one
AND - I have had about 7 proper punctures over the last 2 years - 5 from that road caused by screws, nails and random bits of metal
Then another looks wonderful - covers the approach to the new bridge over the Mersey.
Looks great 00 but it kinda expects cyclists (and pedestrians) to stop about 7 times and press a button then wait. If I stay on the road I have 2 sets of synced lights - so normally stop only once
Great design - one minor problem just makes it unusable

 

[Gravity Aided]

Probably not, but the last interview board I sat on comprised three cyclists, so we decided to use “What sort of bike do you ride?” as an icebreaker question. There were other factors considered - obviously - but the successful candidate rides a Trek.

As always.

 

[matticus]

Is she a bird?

Probably the only context in which I can get away with saying that these days.

WTF? A moderator with a sense of humour? He'll have to go ...

 

[Gravity Aided]

In The States, I think most job applications are online, and follow a set pattern. Interviews are somewhat restricted in scope as well. But cycling is often a subject that has come up in interviews, either because personnel people have seen me cycling or my references mentioned it. I have interviewed a number of people over the years, but I think I may have had but three or four interviews , and three or four jobs. One went for 15 years, and this job I have now is well over that.

 

[Profpointy]

Last few times I have got advise about creating a cv I have been told to keep the 'Hobbies and Interests' section out of it

before that (20+ years before) it was supposed to be critical because it fleshes out you character. It also help the interviewer as it can provide a nice easy friendly starting point before they start talking about serious stuff

There's the story of the admissions tutor at university being unimpressed by students' applications listing "reading & walking" as hobbies.
"I like to think most of our candidates can read and walk"

 

[matticus]

A college friend of mine had to invent some interests for her UCAS form. Got some tough questions on astronomy at her interview :P

 

[RichardB]

ROund here there are lots of really good looking cycle paths - wide - well surfaced, properly placed
BUT
one goes through an industrial estate - ona shared cycle path/pavement - so every factory has gates going through it - and every gate has a dropped kerb. But every dropped kerb has a drop of about an inch - so you go BUMp BUMP on every one
AND - I have had about 7 proper punctures over the last 2 years - 5 from that road caused by screws, nails and random bits of metal
Then another looks wonderful - covers the approach to the new bridge over the Mersey.
Looks great 00 but it kinda expects cyclists (and pedestrians) to stop about 7 times and press a button then wait. If I stay on the road I have 2 sets of synced lights - so normally stop only once
Great design - one minor problem just makes it unusable

Similar thing here. The local authority has spent a lot of money creating cycle paths/shared use paths all over the place, but obviously designed by a 'cyclist' who takes the kids out at weekends (in full hi-viz, of course), not someone who just uses a bike to get efficiently from A to B. One example - there is a hill out of town which passes 1) the local Vets, 2) the hospital, 3) and 4) entrances to a trading estate. At each junction, the cycle path turns 90 deg left into the entrance, then a dropped kerb and 90 deg right to cross the entry road, then another 90 deg right up a dropped kerb and finally a 90 deg left to rejoin the shared use path. On approach to each of these, you need to look behind for traffic about to turn into the road you want to cross, and because of the angles involved it isn't just a shoulder check, it's a full 'one hand off the bars, sit upright and look right behind you' check. That's if you want to keep moving. If you don't mind interrupting your journey, you can of course get to the dropped kerb, stop and check both ways for traffic before proceeding. It's on a hill, yeah, thanks. Or you could stay on the main road with the cars and lorries and be out of town in one shot. I stick to the road these days, far quicker, but it grieves me that so much money was spent on cycle paths that are really only useful to slow, recreational riders. Presumably the brownie points are for getting families with kids onto bikes for colourful weekend excursions, rather than getting people out of their cars and onto bikes for utility journeys.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Chris Froome did that when he applied for a cycling job.

 

[lane]

I have mentioned cycling at few times at work in the past and was taken aback by the occasional negative and incredulous reaction it got. Got one person who was very senior in another company we were a customer of, to start complaining vocally about a colleague who came to work by bike and entered the office in lycra before getting changed - I was quite shocked. So am not convinced it would help you get a job could be the reverse. Anyway I don't want another job and hope to never go to an interview again. My next step is hopefully retirement so I can spend more time on my bike rather than earning a living.

 

[Drago]

I can thoroughly recommend retirement. Do it as soon as you can, as life is too precious to waste it at work (unless youre a porn actor).

 

[Andy in Germany]

I've been thinking about this , and realised that in my new digs in Freiburg, the revelation that I cycle to work probably wouldn't elicit more than a shrug, or a "yes, and?", because it's pretty normal here.

That said, we're still in the minority: I'm continually astonished how many cars I pass on my way to work with one occupant. I also tend to pass a post truck headed for the distribution depot next to my work, which typically arrives there some time after I've arrived and got comfortable in the office.

 

[Tripster]

Many years ago when I was fresh out of my apprenticeship and desperate to escape machining an interviewer asked about my hobbies. When I said I played rugby and rode motorbikes his next question was, how much time have you had off with injuries or broken bones...... I got the job but he was unhappy when a year later I broke my collarbone and was off work along time waiting for the doctors to agree it had not healed and have a bone graft to put it back together. He said never again would he employ someone who plays contact sport

 

[Andy in Germany]

Many years ago when I was fresh out of my apprenticeship and desperate to escape machining an interviewer asked about my hobbies. When I said I played rugby and rode motorbikes his next question was, how much time have you had off with injuries or broken bones...... I got the job but he was unhappy when a year later I broke my collarbone and was off work along time waiting for the doctors to agree it had not healed and have a bone graft to put it back together. He said never again would he employ someone who plays contact sport

I guess that's another factor: there's a lot that an interviewer legally can't ask here, and I suspect hobbies are considered private and none of their business, which is why I've never been asked.

 

[Tripster]

I guess that's another factor: there's a lot that an intervewer can't ask here, and I suspect hobbies are considered private and none of their business, which is why I've never been asked.

I think I have been asked a few times, maybe ice breakers or just out of interest. That was the one time anyone has made a negative comment though. I did work briefly in an office which I am not cut out for and hated it but once the office manager found out I played for a rival club that his family had been involved in he pathetically made my life hell. I didn’t care because I was only killing time until my next site contract began. Needless to say I have never set foot in an office again

 

[matticus]

Andy you've possibly got this the wrong way round; you put that stuff on your CV to give you an opportunity to big yourself up at the interview! It's not an excuse for them to dig into your life, looking for dirt :P
You get to sound keen about something, and subtly mention the transferable skills you've picked up; and hopefully make a connection with the interviewer. It's also a chance to bring something light-hearted to the session, so both sides get a positive feeling about each-other.