Where To Mention Hobbies And Interests
It is important to note that including a hobbies section on your resume is optional. If you do decide to include one, it is essential to place it in the right part of your resume. Leading with your hobbies at the top of the resume indicates that you are not good at prioritizing.
So, where to place them?
Even though they may be connected to your career, your hobbies will not have a greater impact than your working experience. Even though you may have obtained them decades before, your qualifications will also have more of an impact. Therefore, a dedicated hobby and interests section should be placed at the bottom of your resume.
How Can The Area Of Interest Section Affect Your Skills
Your areas of interest are best if it aligns with the job role. You can tailor your resumes according to the job profile to become more eligible for the applied job role.
If you are applying for the role of a graphic designer and you have mentioned cooking as your hobby, it wont help you get the job. You need to have interests in graphics, drawing, computers to be suitable for the same.
The main purpose of your areas of interest is to be relevant to the job descriptions, which eventually helps the recruiter understand your personality better. Most of the time, these recruiters are looking for employees with the right attitude.
A potential candidate can always learn and develop his skills, but its cumbersome to change his wrong attitude towards the job.
Traveling As An Area Of Interest In A Resume
It is generally perceived that people who love to travel are usually very straightforward and tolerant. Well, that would indicate to your employer your skills as a team player. Team management skills are among the sought-after skills that most employers seek out of their ideal job candidate. Thus, do not forget to mention your travel-oriented interest.
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Why Would Anyone Care If I Do Something Outside Work
- are dedicated that you don’t just do things out of duty but can do something extra” without being asked to
- are ambitious don’t want to do the bare minimum, you want to do more
- have a life outside of work people whose lives revolve only around their work get ill more often, have problems with concentrating everybody has to rest sometimes to give the job their all while they are working breaks, also in thinking about something, are simply healthy
- are an interesting person have broad interests and a lot to offer you never know when your love for traveling or interest in an unpopular language or breeds of dogs will be useful in your job.
Why You Should List Your Interests And Hobbies On Your Resume
You Could be MemorableIf you have hobbies that stand out, such as sky jumping your resume could become memorable to the hiring manager. And while rare, sometimes the applicant shares a hobby with the hiring manager that can also help make the resume stand out.
Personalizes Your ResumeWhen a hiring manager sees hundreds of resumes every day, you need something to make yours stand out, and one way of doing that is to add a little personality to your resume by including your hobbies on your resume.
Can Boost Your SkillsYour hobbies arent always fun and entertaining things.Sometimes they offer skills that can really look good on your resume. For example, lets say you are applying at a music store and your hobby is playing piano. That could be seen as a skill. It can also benefit those new to the workforce who dont have a great deal of job experience, but who have developed skills through their hobbies.
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Learn The Company Culture
Once you learn more about the corporate culture, customize the Interests section on your resume.
This is to first highlight the interests or hobbies that will be most relevant to that particular office.
Remember that your resume is your personal marketing tool and you should make the most of your entire resume.
When including your interest section, to market yourself to a potential employer.
Due to the lack of valuable space on the resume of these candidates, relevant work experience and qualifications take precedence over personal interests.
Choosing activities for your resume means choosing which aspects of your personality you want to highlight and convey.
While your interests are situational, they can help you get a job.
Before you start listing interests on your resume, you need to make sure they are well received by the company you want to work for.
For example, if youre applying for a high-tech position, mentioning the game as a personal interest is likely to get a positive response and might even be relevant to the position.
For example, if you are applying for a job in which you have significant professional experience and skills, the employer will find that qualification more beneficial than your hobbies and interests.
Do Recruiters Read Them
Heres the problem with hobbies: theyre subjective.
Some recruiters are absolute advocates, believing them to be an integral part of well-rounded application. Conversely, some may only consider them important if its a close decision, or if company fit/culture becomes a factor.
As a general rule, most recruiters will only be interested in your hobbies if theyre relevant to the role and, crucially if youve ticked all the other boxes.
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Why Include Hobbies And Interests
To put it simply, hiring managers are nosy.
While your CV tells the story of your qualifications and your career, the hobbies and interest section reveals a little more of your personality.
Benefits of including hobbies on your CV include:
- Demonstrating your relevant skills for the role
- Makes your CV more individual
- Allows you to show voluntary and community-focused projects
- Gives you something to talk about during your interview
Best Examples Of Hobbies And Interests To Put On A Cv
The Hobbies and interests section is an important but optional section on your CV. Many candidates include it on their CVs while others do not.
Which approach should you take?
We recommend adding your personal interests to your resume because this is a great way to stand out from the crowd, show the potential employer a bit of your personality and create a foundation for transformation in the job interview.
David Littleford et al. are cited under other interests in their book Career Skills :
You should include hobbies and other interests, especially if they involve social and community activities. These activities are important of associations, sports clubs / teams etc. It includes their membership. All these activities and the scope of your involvement give the recruiter clues about the real you and your interests.
In this guide you will find:
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Whats The Difference Between Hobbies And Interests And Why It Matters When Youre Writing A Resume
The difference between hobbies and interests is pretty simple. Hobbies are things that you do regularly and you enjoy doing, while interests are something youre curious about.
For example, if you say video editing is a hobby, it means you enjoy editing and you do it regularly. Whereas, if you said editing is one of your interests, it means you want to learn more about it or start doing it in the future.
Interests are precursors to hobbies. The difference is fairly subtle, but when youre putting this on your resume you want to nail it down.
Some people even confuse these terms with preferences. To clear it up, preferences just mean that you would rather do one thing instead of the other. E.g. you prefer playing basketball over football.
If youre called in for an interview, potential employers could ask you for more details about your hobbies and interests. This way, they can learn more about you as a person and what you do outside the workforce. One clever way you can illustrate this is by including a day in my life pie chart that the Enhancv resume builder has.
With the examples shown from Enhancv later in this guide, youll see how candidates incorporated their hobbies and interests creatively to express their personalities. But there are a few other things that we have to take a look at first, like
What Can You Include In Your Area Of Interest
The scope in the area of interest section is very much broad. There are plenty of hobbies a person can have, develop or learn if they want, and there can be hobbies that you would not have ever heard about earlier, which pretty much sums up the broad spectrum of this section.
The primary section of the areas of interest for many people usually includes the sports and arts category. Along with sports and arts, the other common categories similar to these include:
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When Should You Include Your Hobbies And/or Interests On Your Resume
There are four main reasons why youd want to include your hobbies or interests on your resume. Whether youre still young and you have little experience, the employer demands it, youre applying for a job in a creative field, or you simply have white space on your resume that you want to fill.
Whichever the reason, its important to remember that when you start crafting your resume you want to have a goal in mind.
Are you trying to highlight your personality and cultural fit for the job vacancy? Are you trying to show you have further relevant and transferable skills for the field? Do you want to take advantage of this section to emphasize your unique qualities and stand out from the other applicants?
Whatever question most resonates with you, remember it. This helps you keep a clear focus so employers can vividly consume the bigger picture youre painting for them.
Additionally, lets go more in-depth on the three reasons why youd want to include your hobbies and interests on your resume.
Hobbies And Interests For Your Cv/rsum
Browse our comprehensive list of the best hobbies and interests to include in your CV and discover what they say about you.
-
Chris Leitch
Editor-in-Chief and Career Expert
This article is brought to you by CraftResumes, a leading résumé and LinkedIn profile writing service based in the USA.
We dont need to tell you how confusing, infuriating and often soul-crushing writing a CV can be Im sure you all know exactly what its like.
And its often the more simple sections that make the whole process so darn difficult: should I include my home address in my contact details? How should I organise my skills section? Should I include my hobbies and interests?
Regarding the latter, you dont necessarily have to but it can help reinforce your application.
So, what kind of hobbies and interests should you include in your CV?
Well, if youre stuck for ideas and need some inspiration, dont panic.
Weve put together this list of 75 of the best ideas to help you get started!
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Need More Help Preparing For Your Interview
Knowing what Hobbies & Interests to Put on a Resume is one thing, but you may wish to prepare further for the actual interview.
Prepare for common interview questions
We have a database full of interview questions to expect depending on the employer youre applying with, including Wendys Interview Questions, Hollister Interview Questions, Aflac Interview Questions, and Parks and Recreation Interview Questions. Simply type the name of your potential employer in our search box!
We also offer additional support for those coming into the job market at a disadvantage. If thats you, you might be interested in answers to these common concerns: Does Kohls Run Background Checks? Can Felons Work at the Post Office? Can a Felon Get a Ham Radio License? or Does Whole Foods Conduct Drug Tests?
Other recommended resources
Of course, if you really want to ace a job interview, its well worth reading something like Get That Job!, 60 Seconds and Youre Hired!, or 101 Toughest Interview Questions. You cant go wrong investing in one of these books.
Ok, back to what interests and hobbies to put on your resume
Where Do I Include My Hobbies And Interests On The Resume
Recruiters and companies will read about your hobbies once they have made sure you fill in all the other requirements for the job. As stated before, your extra-curricular activities are a dessert, not the main course. They should come at the end of a resume and they should never take more than several lines. Additionally, it can also depend on the resume template and the layouts you are using. Some formats allow for space for your hobbies in the two-column format. Be mindful about how it looks on your computer.
Your key selling points are your experiences, education and skills. Perfect the hobbies and interests section once you have finished the other parts of your resume. This is your closing statement that can contribute to the whole application but it is not the main one.
Stick to two to three perfectly worded hobbies, dont include too many. A large hobbies section will make the employer think that you wont have any time to get any work done with all these activities and that you are having a very hard time focusing on one thing.
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Should You Mention Hobbies & Interests On Your Resume
You already have limited space on your resume as is.
So, as a general thing, you should ONLY mention your hobbies and interests on a resume if you have the space for it.
And if you are going to mention them, you should also know that certain hobbies say specific things about you.
As a rule of thumb, your hobbies and interests should show your good side and how youd make the perfect fit for the job youre applying to.
For example, if you like to speak at local conventions, chances are, you might be an extrovert and good at public speaking – which might come in handy at a sales role.
Applying for a gaming company? Makes sense for your interests to be related to tech.
But what if youre applying for a job where your hobby isnt as directly related?
In that case, you might want to think about how your hobby is perceived and what kind of association the HR manager might get from it.
Consider if the job youre applying to requires a lot of teamwork and thinking on your feet.
How will your interests come in handy here?
- Do you coach the local basketball team in your spare time? That just might transfer to your new job.
- Watching a sport from afar? Not as much.
If your hobbies are not relevant to the job, and dont have a lot of transferable value – dont bother with taking up valuable space on your resume.
Though situational, your interests can be what might end up getting you the job.
Heres how:
What Do Employers Look For
When deciding what to include as your hobbies, it is imperative to understand what your employers are looking for.
According to an article published by Forbes, the Job Outlook 2012 report, National Association of Colleges and Employers , cited the following as the most important skills employers look out for every time they receive a resume from a prospective employee.
Ability to be a Team Player
Potential employers want an assurance that you can work with other employees, share, and listen to their ideas, especially when handling group projects.
Being a team player also means that you should be willing to put the companys and other peoples interests ahead of your own without expecting favors in return.
Ability to Communicate Both Inside and Outside the Organization
Employers want an effective communicator that can deliver concrete messages clearly, and also motivate and convince colleagues, juniors, and seniors in the workplace.
Excellent communication skills are also vital when talking to clients, and convincing them to approach the company for business.
Eventually, problems arise, and your reaction to each challenge could save or ruin the company.
Effective and efficient solutions are necessary during a crisis to prevent and also mitigate damage.
Making right decisions in the absence of supervision exhibits leadership skills and is a door to promotions and rewards.
Ability to Obtain Information and Process It
Ability to Plan Well
Ability to Actively Hone Your Skills
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Personal Interest On Resume
Hobbies and interests can increase the weight of your resume and make it more attractive to potential employers.
However, if you have several years of work experience and can fill in a one-page resume with relevant professional skills and qualifications.
Experience professionals, please do not include hobbies and interests in your resume. Keep your resume short and specific, just like your hobby list.
Finally, when listing your interests, make sure they are short and that the list does not exceed 3-4 relevant hobbies.
List each interest or hobby in a bulleted list. This should be similar to how you would format the skills section on your resume.
So Should I Include Them
Essentially, theres no right or wrong answer for this one.
Some recruiters love the extra detail, whilst others prefer to keep it strictly professional. Their inclusion is never likely to grate on the reader too much, but should always be as relevant as possible. Especially if youre low on space. However, if your hobbies and interests are used to supplement your income, they could be a great way to demonstrate skills that may not be covered in your work experience section.
If youre still having difficulty making your decision, use our quick checklist below:
- Those applying for roles which are directly related to their hobbies
- Those who want to cut down their CV
- Those who dont know what to say
- Those who have no real hobbies
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