How To List Hobbies And Interests On Your Resume With Examples

Adding hobbies and interests in a resume was considered to be childish and unprofessional before, but the times are changing. But now, most multinational and other popular companies give a lot of importance to a person’s hobbies and interests. Rather than sitting in front of a device and working in an emotionless environment, employers make sure that their employees are fun and playful during their work. A resume without proper mentioning of interests and hobbies often seems muted. It is the most entertaining part of the resume and a platform where people express themselves. The hobbies and interests are the ones that define each human being. Therefore adding interests and hobbies should be done in a proper format. In this article, we shall learn a few basics about the rules and regulations while writing hobbies and interests in a resume. 

How To List Hobbies And Interests On Your Resume With Examples

What are hobbies?

Hobbies are something that is done during leisure time. It is an activity done for fun. Since it is an unpaid and non-professional activity, a person does it as they wish. Hobbies can be collecting stamps, playing sports, playing musical instruments, reading books, discovering new things, etc.

What are your interests?

Interests are the subjects that fascinate a person and it is something he or she would love to spend time exploring and discovering new things about that subject. It can be history, science, technology, geography, pop culture, etc. For example, if your interest is music, singing songs and playing musical instruments can be considered as the hobby you have.

Some hobbies and interests commonly seen in the resume:

  • Writing
  • Blogging
  • Podcasting
  • Marketing
  • Learning new languages
  • Photography 
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Yoga
  • Art
  • Reading
  • Making a music
  • Listening to music

These are a few steps on how to write hobbies and interests in your resume:

1. Researching the company

It is always a good step to research the company you are about to work for. Try matching your hobbies and interests with the work tasks of the company. The hobbies and interests should seem valuable to the company. Make sure the hobbies and interests merge with those hobbies and interests of other employees working under the same firm. 

2. Choose your hobbies and interests wisely

Mention the type of hobbies and interests which matches the personality. If a person is outgoing and extroverted, playing sports and singing can be included as hobbies. But if a person is introverted, individualistic activities like reading books, and collecting stamps can be added as hobbies. This will make the employer choose the correct workspace for the employees. It can be working with a team for an extroverted person or working individually for an introverted or providing both environments for an ambivert person. 

3. Use passions to highlight the skills and traits

Your 5. should be included along with mentioning the previous firms you have worked for. For example, your passion for photography should be highlighted while you fill in your skills and experiences column. This would make your resume look continuous. 

4. Push down your activities to the bottom 

It is always preferable to keep the resume short (within 1-2 pages). Writing a long paragraph about hobbies and interests would make the resume look boring and wordy. Write the hobbies and interests in pointwise manner and avoid giving a long description for each hobby. Avoid writing personal activities to make the resume look formal. 

5. Select the hobbies and interests you feel best represent you in a positive manner

The hobbies and interests mentioned in the resume should be positive enough to impress the employer. The inclusion of hobbies should be done in a way that the employer would not get offended in any way. 

6. Be specific

Be specific in your hobbies and make you stand out from others. Since it is important to merge your hobbies with the hobbies of your colleagues, it is also important to make sure that you are different from them. For example, simply mentioning Reading as your hobby would make your resume look common, but reading complicated Russian novels would make it look more specific. You can also list some of your favorite authors. 

7. Be honest

Be honest while writing hobbies and interests. Do not bluff about your hobbies. Stay true to yourself and showpieces of evidence of the places you visited (like tickets) to keep your resume convincing. Adding false information to a resume is not encouraged. 

8. Keep your level of weird low

There should be a constant reminder to yourself that you are formatting a formal piece of paper that will be viewed and read by a lot of people. A resume is something that has to be written with utmost politeness. For example, your love for cats should not be expressed under your volunteer ship at a local animal shelter. 

9. Avoid using sensitive information in the resume

Including caste, politics, religion, and sex-based matters in the resume will result in breaching the validity of the resume. The resume will be read by several individuals with a perception different from yours. Adding information that is not of public support will be a risk. It might question your acceptance to a firm. 

Conclusion

The world is growing to an advanced level these days. Many people started knowing the importance of getting a proper job and started looking for different ways to get a job. Having a resume is one of them. Having a valid resume is more than enough for some companies to recruit their employees. Therefore it is very important to have a resume that completely pictures a person who points out his or her abilities.

 A unique resume is well appreciated by firms these days. Reading the same resume for a long time often makes recruiters go tired easily. Adding unique qualities and experiences and having a good set of vocabulary will increase the quality of the resume. The organization of information with bullet points, and bold and underlined headings is also a sign of a good resume.

How To List Hobbies And Interests On Your Resume With Examples

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to top