Comments on: How planning your wedding could help your career

By: Kait

Kait — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:49:34 +0000

AMEN SISTER!

By: Vicky

Vicky — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:35:24 +0000

I started a new job, undertook a masters degree, organised an international scout trip and planned our wedding in three months. No interviewer can ever doubt my time management skills again. (no need to mention all the work, essays, rucksack packing, wedding shopping that happened at the last minute)

I think if your summary of your skills is quite broad then mentioning your wedding is ok if you are ok with sharing your marital status, if all your examples come down to wedding planning that might not go down so well.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:05:24 +0000

While I still don't think I'm doing to mention this in job interviews, I HAVE learned a lot in the short time I've been doing this. Making super-specific budgets showing multiple scenarios and contingency funding is a new way of thinking for me. Building my wedsite has been a useful, fail-proof way of trying out tools and techniques for the professional blog/website I'm making for myself. And I'm sure that class I took in Negotiation will come in handy when it's time to deal with the caterer.

By: Anony Mouse

Anony Mouse — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:26:08 +0000

Well, maybe what I should have said was a bias against traditionally female work– things like parenting, running a household or planning a wedding. I don't think it is reasonable or fair that it's the case, but I do think there is a bias against viewing any kind of unpaid 'domestic' work as professional or serious, no matter how much budgeting, leadership, or spreadsheets it may involve.

By: Andre Nievo

Andre Nievo — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:06:45 +0000

I like the practicality of these tips. Planning ahead can help make things easier than acting with only a little time left.

By: irisira

irisira — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:04:09 +0000

Also, Rachel and fleda, I've never planned anything as large-scale as that, but I gotta agree that the wedding planning has been SO much easier/more fun than projects I've done for work/volunteering! I wouldn't think of hiring a coordinator, either, as I enjoy this sort of thing. I *am* tempted to hire someone to do my invitations, however – crafty, I am not.

By: irisira

irisira — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:03:38 +0000

Being in HR myself, I agree with those cautionary tales as mentioned above.

However, I do disagree with the bias against unpaid work. I've always been encouraged to highlight and discuss leadership roles I've taken in volunteer organizations, for example. Which, actually, is one way to spin it … "I planned an event for 100+ guests and had to do xyz …"

Or, rather than highlight it in an interview, just use the skills in your current job without necessarily drawing attention to it. I mean – I've done event planning for volunteer organizations, as well as taken management classes on project management and interpersonal communication, and have been applying those skills to my wedding planning, so the converse is true – skills acquired in wedding planning you can translate on the job … but, maybe, privately.

By: Anony Mouse

Anony Mouse — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:52:24 +0000

While I agree that planning a wedding can definitely lead to developing or honing skills that are directly applicable to professional contexts, there is, unfortunately, a very strong and prevalent bias against unpaid work, particularly of the sort traditionally performed by women, as not being "real work." As much as I dislike that this bias exists, I think that if you ignore it during a job interview you do so at your own peril. Prospective employers may not inquire about marital or family status, as these are legally protected categories, and it would be unwise, I think, to offer up information that could be used as a strike against you.

By: Amerikanka

Amerikanka — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:07:37 +0000

OK, well, I'll try again: one more that I'd add to this list is graphic design. I taught myself Illustrator just for the sake of doing our StDs and invites. Of course my skills are limited, and it's not like I'm going to land myself a new career in graphic design, but it has introduced me to a whole new skill. Best of all, I can simply mention in an interview that I taught myself to do it independently, and I don't even have to bring up the fact that it was wedding-related.

On the FH's side of things, he's learning more about web design (he already had basic skills) to do our website, plus he's getting into Garage Band (more than he already was) to do some music for our website and possible for the recessional. Web design, obviously, is a good plus for any resume…though I'm not sure how he's going to work Garage Band into an interview ;o)

By: Amerikanka

Amerikanka — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:01:11 +0000

While I agree with some posters that this is an issue to consider carefully…I think much of it comes down to the industry you work in, and the vibe of the interview that you're in.

That being said, here's one more to add to the list:
-Graphic design skills: I learned Illustrator just for the sake of doing our StDs and invites (thank you, overseas pirated software…), and now that I have CS4 on my computer I'm teaching myself all sorts of other stuff, including Photoshop. Will this land me a graphic design gig? No, but it's still another skill to add to the resume in my very non-graphic-design field…plus I can talking about being a self-starting quick-learner (I don't even have to mention the wedding!).

I know there are others too, since I think about this all the time, but I'm drawing a blank…oh! The FH is teaching himself more about web design to do our website (again, general bonus points for the resume), plus he's also using this as an excuse to delve into Garage Band a little more deeply, creating some music for the website and possibly the recessional. Not sure Garage Band will help in a job interview, though ;o)