Should You Include Your Side Hustle On Your Resume?

It's not uncommon for people in our industry to have a side hustle, and that's increasingly the case in this double strike season. But does a side hustle belong on your resume when you're applying for entertainment roles?

First, remember that your resume is a marketing document that explains who you are and why you can do the job you’re applying for. It’s not a biography or a background check and doesn’t need to include every detail of your personal and professional history. Instead, it should showcase the information that is most relevant at the present moment. A good resume tells a story -- so when it comes to the issue of including side gigs, the real question is: Is it part of your “A” story or “B” story?

If you’re applying to work in development or production and have an independent production company on the side that produces web series, it’s probably worth including on your resume, since it supports your ultimate career goals. Same goes if you’re a script reader looking for development jobs. But what about skills and experience that aren't so industry specific? Maybe you are a talented coder or graphic designer, so you build websites. These are useful skills, especially at digital companies or for marketing positions, but if you're looking for work in development, production, or representation, including them in your timeline may distract employers from other recognizable companies you’ve worked for or cause your more pertinent skills to get lost. Unless you really need to fill space or believe these experiences are key selling points, you should move the these extra endeavors down into the skills or interests section of your resume or leave them off entirely.

If your side hustle is totally unrelated to the industry -- Uber driver, Nordstrom salesperson, nanny -- leave it off. The only exceptions are if you’re a recent college grad without much professional or extracurricular experience, or if you need to fill gaps in your resume timeline (note that we mean a large and confusing gap of at least a year, not a few months, nor a gap that overlaps with COVID or the strikes). In these cases, you can include the position, but make sure you highlight transferable skills, like customer service.

Ultimately, it all goes back to your story. If you think listing the skills you learned from your side hustle will help edge out the competition, include it! If not, don't waste valuable resume space.