June Webb ⋅ Chevy Chase, MD JWebb Inspire ⋅ 17 years experience

Hi Robert,

The real estate investment venture that you did and the entrepreneurial spirit is not that relevant in most w-2 employee jobs. You can, however, word your skills differently to align with the particular job that you apply for.
If you want to get your real estate license and take a path towards real estate and get your license than it will be a whole different “game”. If you enjoy the real estate transactions than perhaps that may be a good path for you.

June Webb

Amit Chaudhary ⋅ San Jose, CA Doordash, Silicon Valley Software Company ⋅ 20 years experience

You did not mention what role you are looking for.
But yes, generally side gigs show one is let's say, 80% committed and not 100% and hence distract from job match, not help. Yes, case could be bad, those are actually valuable skills, but you are trying to be on side on majority opinion, if you want to increase chance of next stage shortlisting

Jo Prabhu ⋅ San Rafael, CA International Services Group ⋅ 20 years experience

Times have changed. A resume is a reliable documentation of one's experience and capabilities. It is always the one thing you omit that may land you the job.

Ellen Sears ⋅ Marietta, GA ⋅ 12 years experience

Robert,

It is definitely worth including to show the depth of your experience, but as you've experienced some recruiters might question the commitment to the job at hand. I usually like to create a separate section so that we can showcase the experience and not take away from your target role. I am a resume writer and navigate this often. Feel free to reach out and I can give you some pointers on how to position it. Thanks! Ellen

Jeremy Serwer ⋅ Woodstock, CT The Serwer Company, LLC ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello Robert --

Currently a licensed commercial real estate broker and consultant in my own business, when I did have corporate jobs I also had residential income properties. I never mentioned my side residential properties business on resumes, for all the good reasons outlined in June's and Rebecca's comments. I respectfully disagree with Monica's suggestion, UNLESS the job for which you're applying is related (residential property management, etc). The possibilities that your outside gig could impinge upon time and attention to the corporate job is too overpowering to many hiring executives.

Rebecca Splinter ⋅ Tacoma, WA Wells Fargo ⋅ 40 years experience

Resume space is precious space. Each resume you submit anywhere should tailor your experience, using the job posting's key words, to highlight how your experience is a GREAT match for the hiring firm's needs in that specific role. Anything you include that is off point.....is off point. As someone else said, a little differently: highlighting a hobby such as your real estate investments could easily raise questions such as: how much time will that take away from our job? Questions like that don't help you get an interview.

You want your resume and application to cause the reader to think 'this applicant could do our job' AND to want to know more about your related experience/expertise. If you're applying for a property management role,info about your hobby could be useful. For an engineering role,that info is probably no going to advance you to an interview or, if interviewed, help you be selected for the job..

Monica Miller ⋅ Federal Way, WA International Paper ⋅ 15 years experience

Robert,
I can understand the recommendation against including the information on your resume because it could look like you already have a self owned business. Depending on the employer, they may have an impression that you don't need them. I believe that a employer with this outlook isn't a place for me. I would include the information regarding your rentals however I would frame it as property management and focus the details around being a method of income during your military service. You may want to give details about the accounting, book keeping, and completing background checks on renters. I hope this helps.

ACP AdvisorNet Staff ⋅ New York, NY ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi Robert,

Thanks so much for reaching out with this question!

I would recommend taking a look at our "Community" tab and then clicking on the "Advisors" section. From there, you can filter by "Human Resources" or "Real Estate". You can directly message advisors to get different thoughts and professional opinions on this.

I hope this helps!

All the best,
Maria