If asked.....

Heckler

Would you put down the fact that you shoot on a job CV ? I was told by a HR consultant not to.

To me its probably one of the best references you can have. Garda vetted to be allowed a potentially lethal firearm but I was told to leave it out pretty much because employers just see "GUNS". BAD.

I'm job hunting soon. Do I include shooting like most would include Hurling or swimming or do I leave it out ?

Kevin McCloud

Heckler wrote: »

To me its probably one of the best references you can have. Garda vetted to be allowed a potentially lethal firearm but I was told to leave it out pretty much because employers just see "GUNS". BAD.

You are not exactly a member of an exclusive club in possession of a firearm, I would leave it out.

Rackstar

Heckler wrote: »

I'm job hunting soon. Do I include shooting like most would include Hurling or swimming or do I leave it out ?

You don't need the gun to hunt for the job. Leave it out.

aaakev

Heckler wrote: »

Would you put down the fact that you shoot on a job CV ? I was told by a HR consultant not to.

To me its probably one of the best references you can have. Garda vetted to be allowed a potentially lethal firearm but I was told to leave it out pretty much because employers just see "GUNS". BAD.

I'm job hunting soon. Do I include shooting like most would include Hurling or swimming or do I leave it out ?

really depends on the job and company tbh. obviously if its something in farming or that it would be fine but it could be riskey in what might be considered professional positions.

I'm a sales manager for a premium car brand and i have it on my cv, i took the stance that this is me, take it or leave it and it was a big conversation in my interview 5 years ago! the MD who never shot a gun before has since been shooting clays and loved it. i have no problem with people knowing but at the time i had a good job and was just looking for a change that suited me, if i didn't have a good job at the time i probably would have left out the fact that i hunt, even though i hate to hide it, just to not hinder my chances

Heckler

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

You are not exactly a member of an exclusive club in possession of a firearm, I would leave it out.

you're not exactly a a member of an exclusive club either if you cycle, play GAA or 5 a side soccer. Would you leave those out if you participated ? none of those activities bring with them a garda clearence to say you are trustworthy.

wexfordman2

for security reasons I would never advertise to strangers that I have a firearm, particularly if that also invoolved providing them my name and address.

J.R.

I wouldn't put it on a CV either - mainly for security reasons.

You never know where CV's are left lying around on desks...viewed by other employees, secretary, office staff, cleaners, caretakers etc.

Also, when interviews are over they may just end up in the recycle bin...no guarantee that they have been shredded, destroyed etc.

Depending on the type of job I may mention it in the interviews if asked about hobbies / pastimes etc. If it has nothing to add to your application for that particular position I wouldn't bother mentioning it.

Most jobs are in the cities these days......many people living in the city do not know anybody with a gun.....are not even aware that ordinary "Joe Soaps", who are not Gardaí or military, are entitled to buy and own a gun etc.

Obviously, if gun ownership would be an advantage for my job application - working on farm, forestry, pest control etc. then I would definitely include it.

It's not that I would be embarassed or anything regards my sport....I would always be willing to explain and give a very 'down to earth' outline of why I shoot, and if necessary defend my pastime......it's just that gun owners have to be a lot more vigilant about broadcasting to all that they own a gun.......not put it in writing for total, unknown strangers to read, talk about and tell their partners / friends.

Nobody will bat an eyelid in an interview if you mention that you own a hurley but they will all perk up if you mention you own a gun......even though both are only used in pursuit of a pastime.

You never know if members of the interview boards are anti-gun, anti-blood sports etc. so I would keep quiet about it unless required.

hexosan

If your asking on the net I think you know yourself it's best to leave it off. Like J.R said you could possibly mention it in the interview but I wouldn't be putting it on the CV.

Sparks

My CV's had it on it for a decade now. I'd rather they knew up front rather than finding out a month into the job and thinking I was hiding it. But then again, "Olympic Target Shooting" gets read by Joe Public a bit differently than "Shooting", so presentation is important. Also, it's me. Google me, you tend to see the firearms on the first page (the first result mentions firearms and the fourth result is guns.ie) so hiding away from it isn't really an option for me

Also, though it's so rare as to qualify as the weirdest job interview I've ever gone through, for the IBM job I wound up in one interview talking about compiler design and data structures for thirty minutes and then walking my interviewer through his FCA1 application form and all the recent changes the 2006 and 2009 Acts had introduced in the law for about fifteen minutes (he hunted bunnies y'see...).

Kevin McCloud

Heckler wrote: »

you're not exactly a a member of an exclusive club either if you cycle, play GAA or 5 a side soccer. Would you leave those out if you participated ? none of those activities bring with them a garda clearence to say you are trustworthy.

You are making a big deal of having a garda clearance thinking its a deal breaker. You do not need a garda clearance to say that you are trustworthy, nor since you have one that you are superior to another that don't.

dodderangler

When I had my job interview my supervisor went through it with me and checked my hobbies to which I had down I hunt and fish. He also does both and we had a great conversation of hunting and guns etc and I think it's what got me the job more so that I had a lot in common with him.

Tommyaya4

a lot of the time eployers are inputting names into a facebook search so if you have a facebook account thats not private are you have hunting related topics or pictures on it, why not put it on your CV
TOMMY

IRLConor

I'm in a similar position to Sparks. Google my name and you get either me or my cousin. If you know which one you're looking for (and if you're thinking of hiring me you won't hire the other Conor and vice versa) then it's really obvious that I shoot.

For me, it's pointless to even try and hide it so if I had a CV some reference to shooting would probably be on it.

ace86

I have just referenced that i'm a member of x club for game and vermin control and i have never been asked a question in an interview about it or stopped me from geting a job either.

BattleCorp

Putting shooting on a cv can work both ways.

If I put it on my cv and the interviewer is into shooting, it could set me out from the rest and give me an advantage.

If I didn't get the job, maybe putting it on my cv might have cost me the job.

Just remember, there's a lot more people who don't shoot than us.

Gormley85

Just to add another argument to this. Reading this thread and seeing all the success stories you could be left with the impression that people are getting jobs solely because they are shooters.

On the flip side, just remember, a company will have already made their peace with seeing shooting on a CV if you get to the interview stage.

What you're not seeing/hearing is all the cv's been silently dropped because the HR person wasn't impressed.

J.R.

Gormley85 wrote: »

What you're not seeing/hearing is all the cv's been silently dropped because the HR person wasn't impressed.

It could be somebody like this reading your CV...............they are out there in all walks of life.

dodderangler

J.R. wrote: »

It could be somebody like this reading your CV...............they are out there in all walks of life.

^^^Good god some people really are uneducated and ignorant.
The downside to putting it on your cv is if the person is totally against hunting of any sort

Gormley85

dodderangler wrote: »

^^^Good god some people really are uneducated and ignorant.
The downside to putting it on your cv is if the person is totally against hunting of any sort

Well its not even just hunting. I suppose for us we probably all come from hunter/shooter families were guns were part of the furniture growing up, but we are in minority. Most Joe Soaps dont have a very healthy view of guns (hunting or target) in this country- not that I blame them really. Most of them the only stuff they hear about us comes from places like that RTE hachet job last week and internet viral videos of Piers Morgan getting shouted down by loo-laa Alex Jones or Garda ballistic experts..... and we all know garda experts or garda statistics from pulse could never ever be wrong.

Sparks

Thirty years of domestic terrorism didn't help either I would suspect. I mean, you don't go from sixty thousand people turning out on Dollymount strand for the first creedmoor match to nobody liking firearms by the 2011 creedmoor match just because the GAA got popular.

Heckler

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

You are making a big deal of having a garda clearance thinking its a deal breaker. You do not need a garda clearance to say that you are trustworthy, nor since you have one that you are superior to another that don't.

Well we obviously have different ideas as to what constitutes a big deal. And I never meant to imply that anyone with a garda clearance was superior in any way.

As I was advised to leave out any mention of shooting as a hobby I was simply asking what other people have done in the same situation.

meathstevie

I have it on mine just like my interest in rugby ( mainly refereeing these days ) is mentioned.

OzCam

There is one big difference between the two reasons: One you have control over, the other you don't.

For those folks in the situation where the cat left the bag and headed down the road a long time ago, the decision is already made. But here's something for others to consider.

Unless you're going for a job in a huntin' & fishin' shop, what you do outside of work is none of your employer's business (unless it affects them directly or concerns your ability to do the job). Questions at interview are to establish whether you have a rounded personality and other interests besides work. That's all. It's time enough for an employer to find out about "guns" after you've passed your probation period. Mentioning shooting at interview - unless you're sure it's a positive - will either increase or decrease your chances based on the interviewer's attitudes. Either way, there's nothing you can do about it at the time.

The security question is different. Almost all CVs now are prepared, processed, stored and reviewed electronically. You need to assume that anything on the big recruitment websites is stored in the US. Or outsourced-processed in India. Probably both. If you sent it by email, anyone in the world could read it. So putting "shooting" and your address into the same document is a risk.

Anything that's online can be either Stolen, Sold or Subpoenaed.

Every time you're asked for personal information now, the attitude must be:

• Who wants it?
• Why?
• Who's got access to it?
• How long is it being kept for?
• Who could get access in the future?

Your hobby, your address and where you keep the keys to your safe are all "need to know" items.

Now all these things could get out eventually... but why make it easier for the bad guys?

That's my ¢2 worth.

grassroot1

Would you want to work for someone that was anti shooting? You might say your hobbies are shooting and conservation. It would be more important to be able to talk freely on the benefits of our sport, not all people are anti shooting they just have not had any experience of it yet.

2011

grassroot1 wrote: »

Would you want to work for someone that was anti shooting?

Absolutely. Once the terms and conditions of my employment are good enough I don't care if my employer is anti any sport that I am involved in.

BattleCorp

grassroot1 wrote: »

Would you want to work for someone that was anti shooting?

Most people won't have the luxury of picking and choosing jobs based on their potential employer's like or dislike of shooting.

eezipc

To be honest, you should leave it out.
I have been involved in hiring staff for a few years and if I saw a cv that said the hobby was shooting, I would immediately bin the cv. The first thing that comes to mind is not "this person has Garda clearance, they must be trustworthy".
That's just my opinion. Somebody else could be all for it and it could be an advantage, but to me it's a no go.

J.R.

grassroot1 wrote: »

Would you want to work for someone that was anti shooting?

The problem could be that the interviewer may not be your future employer.

In many jobs today members of the interview panel will not be your boss, should you be fortunate enough to secure the position.

Your future boss could be a keen hunting / shooting enthusiast but may never get to meet you - because a member of the interview panel was anti-shooting.

juice1304

I have always put it down on my Cv, obviously for my new job it was a requirement though :cool::pac:. Its nothing to be ashamed of and i don't like to try and hide who i am. It is simply a sport or hobby the majority of people wouldn't be bothered their hole to care.

mister gullible

People can be funny about shooting. Why would you give HR a reason (however irrational) to sideline your application? Years ago I would have included it in my CV as a hobby/pass-time, nowadays I wouldn't.

Dr Strange

Generally I would not put it on my CV. If I was competing professionally in target shooting instead of a bit of weekend plinking I may put it down as a sport but for the majority of jobs I would go for I don't think it is much appreciated by the HR staff.

I'd say it is similar with other things on your CV, each one will be tailored to the job you're applying for so in some instances you may have it on under hobbies, in others it may be better left out. Whatever has the best chance of getting me the interview I suppose.

Sparks

Another point in all of this is that in some industries (like mine), a lot of roles never hit the job ads - people refer people instead. The worry over HR binning your CV doesn't really exist there, so we may be a very niche case.

grassroot1

For too long now we as people engaged in shooting sports have kept our heads down and our mouths shut as if those against our sport will go away.
We must tell all how good our sport is and its benefits to the environment and to our personal health and well being. We should not be afraid to promote our sport, however going on the security issues highlighted above perhaps a CV is not the place to start.

IRLConor

Sparks wrote: »

Another point in all of this is that in some industries (like mine), a lot of roles never hit the job ads - people refer people instead. The worry over HR binning your CV doesn't really exist there, so we may be a very niche case.

Our industry is very much the exception. The last time I applied for a job without being referred/recommended was for a summer job during college almost 12 years ago. That's not normal at all.