Bringing homebrewing up in a job interview

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I'd probably be too timid to mention it in a job interview, just because yeah, I'd be nervous that they would take it the wrong way.

That being said, I'm taking a music history class this semester and my teacher on the first day told us about how her and her husband are homebrewers. :D
 
Airborneguy said:
What the hell? I really don't even know what to say about this.
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I'm glad you caught this. I thought everyone was going to let it slide.

What is with this guy? He needs to clear this up, but I read it as "I spike the coffee pot at work without telling anyone and now everyone is less stressed (=buzzin').
 
FWIW...I work for a large pharma company in the Oncology Dept....when people caught wind that I brew, they started asking question. These people are Harvard trained PhD's, I was a little nervous how the "nerds" would perceive my hobby. Would they assume that it was a "habit" and not a hobby, like Cape stated above, that I am serious about.

The first question I get is, "How hard is it to get into?" And the second, "Is it expensive?"
And then the follow up statement of, "I've always wanted to do it".

I think telling someone in HR I brew might be a little different then telling my colleagues. But then HR sucks anyway.
 
No stock answer as it all depends on the interviewer and the company. In general I was always more impressed with a candidate who asked me interesting questions about the job available. In most situations you want an intelligent candidate so the more you ask the less time they have to ask you ridiculous "what are your hobbies" type questions. What next? How many people have you killed?
 
Personally, I would not mention it at a job interview and I certainly would not put it on a resume or CV. This is simply because for the vast majority of situations, it's irrelevant, and if it has any impact on the hiring decision, it's not likely to be a positive one.
 
I wouldn't put home brewing on my resume because it seems trivial (unless the job is at a brewer, bar or beer store).

If they ask hobbies, I'd admit to it. Maybe I've been out of the job search for too long, but that seems like a silly interview question. My company never ask stuff like that.

(fixed typo)
 
Cambone said:
I'm glad you caught this. I thought everyone was going to let it slide.

What is with this guy? He needs to clear this up, but I read it as "I spike the coffee pot at work without telling anyone and now everyone is less stressed (=buzzin').
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no you have to read the first part - apparently it was a joke that went over like a bomb. I am at work worrying about what people think and i think to myself "when they find out what you do to the coffeepot, you will be fired for sure"- one could infer that i am urinating in the pot, spiking it, or worse or whatever- i'm sure they will catch it on tape. so that then leads me to think "why get stressed over i job that i will be fired from when they find out i am peeing in the company coffeepot" so it's like imagining people in their underwear. you debase those around you to alleviate stress of a situation where you have put too much stock in the imagined expectations of others and self inflicted pressures of performance.
sorry. bad joke. i'm not sure if an in depth analysis makes it any more funny. probably not.
 
spearko520 said:
no you have to read the first part - apparently it was a joke that went over like a bomb. I am at work worrying about what people think and i think to myself "when they find out what you do to the coffeepot, you will be fired for sure"- one could infer that i am urinating in the pot, spiking it, or worse or whatever- i'm sure they will catch it on tape. so that then leads me to think "why get stressed over i job that i will be fired from when they find out i am peeing in the company coffeepot" so it's like imagining people in their underwear. you debase those around you to alleviate stress of a situation where you have put too much stock in the imagined expectations of others and self inflicted pressures of performance.
sorry. bad joke. i'm not sure if an in depth analysis makes it any more funny. probably not.
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I thought it was really funny. Especially the ethnic lawyer geometrist thing.

The fact that my sense of humor is similar to yours should give you alarm. Perhaps you should take some time off.
 
I would be scared to bring up homebrewing in a interview at most places around here (Utah) even if beer or alcohol was mentioned.. Been at my current job 15yrs so just to get myself outta the spotlight of religion cult my next job will hopefully be alcohol/beer related (drinking, selling, making, consulting) :mug:
 
I've just started job searching and I'm polishing my resume now. I have homebrewing on my resume as in "I'm the President of the Homebrewing and Craft Beer Enthusiasts Club" I started the club and am the first President to have a club like this on campus so I'm the one going through all the red tape with admin to make sure no rules are broken.

So I hope it shows initiative, leadership and willing to try new things where I have to work under certain rules. Can anyone tell me if that's a good thing or not?
 
passedpawn said:
I thought it was really funny. Especially the ethnic lawyer geometrist thing.

The fact that my sense of humor is similar to yours should give you alarm. Perhaps you should take some time off.
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No alarm- thanks for the save- i had my head in the oven when i read that.
and for the record, that was the character i always fantasized that they would add to the cast of LA Law.
if ford farlaine taught us nothing else, it is that "they can't all be golden". If a million people have to die, so that one person, somewhere on this big ball of dust we call a planet, can laugh- then it will all have been worth it.
 
I always bring this up. Interviews are a two-way street; you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. If some place doesn't want to hire me after I've mentioned a homebrewing hobby, then I don't want to work there.
 
Since I homebrew, my opinion is biased. I don't think it would be a bad thing to include, for all of the reasons listed here. However, most people don't homebrew (thank God) and I believe they might see it as a liability. (lost days due to over consumption.)
"Also 3/4 of all statistics are made up on the spot." I actually thought it was closer to 83%.
 
I think it's completely fine. I'm a biochemist myself. I second the thought that if someone saw this as a red-flag, then it is someone you do not want to work for.

I went to college in quite a liberal place, and my first interviewer asked me if I gardened. I said yes, definitely, and only started to stutter when she asked me what I grew...
 
I believe my mention of homebrewing was a positive when probed about hobbies. She asked to be my best friend and mentioned her love of microbreweries. 2nd interview is next Tuesday as an assistant purchaser at a huge greenhouse. Also discussed growing hops.
 
Much better bringing homebrew UP in a job interview than bringing homebrew TO a job interview.

Kinda like there is a HUGE difference between peeing IN the pool and peeing INTO the pool.
 
Well didn't the job because "they decided to pursue a candidate with more experience". So who knows if it made a good impression or not. How's a man supposed to get experience when everyone keeps on telling him that he doesn't have enough... Sigh. Me and my freshly filled keg of wheat stout will become best friends tonight.
 
I put homebrewing on my resume as a hobby. One interviewer told me about his brother who makes homebrew. The other interviewer told me about microbreweries in the area. I got the job with the latter.
 
It is illegal to discriminate against for that because homebrewer is one of the protected classes.
 
BesteBrew said:
Well didn't the job because "they decided to pursue a candidate with more experience". So who knows if it made a good impression or not. How's a man supposed to get experience when everyone keeps on telling him that he doesn't have enough... Sigh. Me and my freshly filled keg of wheat stout will become best friends tonight.
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Sorry to hear about the job. As long as the keg doesn't start wearing a wig, you should be okay.
 
I have brought up home brewing in 2 interviews and both times I was asked if they could try some. Just by talking about brewing and bringing samples in, I have convinced all drinkers in my office to abandon Miller and Bud and try other options.
 
ahh, christ. I have only perused the first page, but, I mention it all the time.

Although, it's because I *can* talk for more than a half an hour about the history (chemical, political, geo-political, moral, and even zymurlogical), geological differences as applied to pre-scientific solutions, styles, and chemistry-related reactions taking place at a certain time in my mash tun.

(though, since I'm a classical music brass player, computer geek, and woodworker, most interviewers eyes glaze over and just think of the word "beer", when I mentioin things like saccharification, beta-amylase, short chains, enzymes, and just about anything beyond 'yeast' and 'sugar is food'.) rock da brew, sing it like it iz, take no prisoners *(unless she's REALLY cute!)*.
 
brewmonk said:
ahh, christ. I have only perused the first page, but, I mention it all the time.

Although, it's because I *can* talk for more than a half an hour about the history , etc.*.
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OK, if I am interviewing anybody and they talk about anything non-work-related for half an hour, that will definitely effect their interview. Not in a good way.

Of course, I never ask about hobbies, or what animal you would be, or any of those ridiculous interview questions, so it doesn't usually come up.
 
if you let me talk for a half an hour in dead silence, i'd be out of there in 7 minutes. have a nice day.
 
That's my new interview game! See how long the applicant will talk if I just stone face them the whole time!! Then I'll ask them if they want a cup of special coffee...
 
BesteBrew said:
Well didn't the job because "they decided to pursue a candidate with more experience". So who knows if it made a good impression or not. How's a man supposed to get experience when everyone keeps on telling him that he doesn't have enough... Sigh. Me and my freshly filled keg of wheat stout will become best friends tonight.
Click to expand...
i think in the wild west they used to drink whiskey until they stopped throwing up and had relations with working girls until their pee started to burn. or until someone challenged them to a gunfight. get back in the mix and you will meet the one you love!! hopefully before your wiener feels like it's on fire...
 
My current company is non-alcoholic (Pellagrino Party!). I didn't know that at the time of the interview, but if I would have talked homebrew it would have been game over. So, 3 years later I'm looking again. Is it bad I'm trying to feel out if my prospective boss drinks?
 

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