A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.
Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)
Contact: marvan@ut.edu
Blog mission & moderation policy
In our new “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:
A bit of a lighthearted question: at my institution, I’m co-ping pong champion for the Spring 2026 semester. I will defend at the end of Fall 2027.
I’ve thought about putting that on my author CV for things like book proposals as a bit of whimsy. Would it be seen that way, or would that probably cause editors or others who saw it to just roll their eyes?
Thoughts from readers?
First off, massive congrats on the ping-pong dominance. I’m of the opinion that including a line referencing this type of accomplishment on your CV can make you look like a multifaceted human being that has a sense of humour, though I wouldn’t overdo it at risk of appearing unprofessional (maybe one line, curiously listed alongside some of your more relevant accomplishments).
One non-academic anecdote: one year my cousin won our family’s annual bocce tournament, and my dad photoshopped an official certificate for him that looked like an academic degree (this was very impressive in the early-2000s). He ended up listing the accomplishment on his CV, and brought the certificate along to the various investment banks he was interviewing at. It made his CV stand out from the pile and became a point of conversation in his interviews (“We have to ask you about the ‘xxxxx Family Bocce Tournament’…”) He would then bust out the ridiculous certificate to roars of laughter from the interview committees.
I don’t think it would make a difference either way, beyond eliciting a small smile.
I think it depends on the rest of the CV. If the rest of the CV is unconventional in other ways or looks like there’s padding, adding this would likely intensify my negative feelings towards it. But if the rest of the CV looks conventional and has no padding, it would elicit a small smile. Overall, adding it likely makes me think more readily to it, but how I feel about it would depend on whether I thought the CV was good or bad to begin with without this addition.
Leave a Reply