One of the key rules for an effective resume is to keep it as short as possible, so you need to scrap all extraneous information. One obvious candidate? Don’t include lists hobbies or recreational activities.
Picture: Getty Images/ Robert Cianflone
In a roundup of details that shouldn’t be added to a resume, Business Insider handily sums up why no-one needs to know you’re into wine tasting or travel:
Nobody cares. If it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for, then it’s a waste of space and a waste of the company’s time.
Hit the link for more suggestions on stuff that you shouldn’t include on your resume, and don’t miss our guide to the top 10 ways to rock your resume.
17 things you should never put on your résumé [Business Insider]
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14 responses to “Never Include Your Hobbies On Your Resume”
A friend of mine got a job at Dreamworks animation, and after about 6 months in the job, the person who hired him mentioned that the main reason he got hired over the other candidates (all of whom were qualified enough to get the job) was that he mentioned that one of his hobbies was that he would put on an ‘Oscars Party’ each year at his current employer.
They took this as a good sign that he was sociable and would inject some much needed socialisation ‘glue’ at Dreamworks.
So, basically, if he hadn’t put down some hobbies, he may well have not gotten the job. I agree that they should be hobbies that sell an aspect of you, but one to three lines of hobbies on a resume are hardly going to bog me down so much that I will ignore the person’s application.
Yep – adding a little section at the end about interests can’t hurt your application I wouldn’t have thought. If your most important info is at the beginning, I doubt they’ll read through all that, come to the interests section and then throw it in the bin because of that.
Oscars Party… Dreamworks… hmm…. 🙂
Many employers now-a-days actually find this information quite relevant when selecting candidates. Choosing people with common interests overall helps to make their transition into the organization much easier, and helps to build better teams.
A better suggestion might be to keep it brief and only list those hobbies about or in which you’re truly passionate and fully invested or active.
I was hired once by someone who appreciated that I had long-distance running as a hobby on my resume. He was also a runner, and said it made me stand out because it showed I had self-discipline, drive, and a good regard for my own health.
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But how would you know that your potential employer was a runner?
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I was on an interview panel that culled applicants on the basis of their ‘Cultural fit’. There were simply too many suitable candidates and we needed some way of narrowing down the field. We went back to their resumes and checked out what they did in their own time to see if it was compatible with our own interests.
As someone who has hired people, knowing that they actually have a life is something to look for.
No hobbies, no interests, no extra curricular activities can be an indicator of productivity. Also, too many hobbies or interests could indicate someone who likes to spread them-self too thing.
Maybe dont add it to a document-CV, but certainly add it to your LinkedIn profile if you have one.
I disagree. As a hirer, I have considered hobbies an important part of the hiring process many times before. It often gives me an avenue for side questioning which lets me get a feel for them as a person. Similarly, if they have a passion for a hobby and they put in effort to pursue and maintain it, the candidate often works out to be a generally harder worker. On the flip side, the interviewees that have not really had significant side hobbies have turned out to be poor workers and unsociable in my experience.
I like to think of my hobby section as my wanker filter. If anyone has any problems with my enthusiasms, they are not the sort of people I want to work with.
Personal hobby: counting Lifehacker articles on resume creation which offer conflicting advice.
How do you have any time to work, with a hobby like that?…
During my uni time, and my early working life, one of my hobbies was juggling. This was the kind of thing that I’d hang out and practice at home, but also something for which I’d meet up with people at juggling clubs (yes, these exist) and help organise and attend juggling conventions/festivals (so do these). I’ve always had “Juggling” listed as a hobby, and *every single* interviewer has asked me about it. It’s a great opportunity to talk about the dedicated practice that goes into improving a skill, and a chance to discuss my ability to effectively manage teams to put on a successful event.
If the interviewers didn’t care, as Business Insider claims, they wouldn’t have asked about it. The fact that they did ask about it gave me a good opportunity to talk about my strengths. So I’d suggest that if you can spin your hobby into a good story about yourself, then include it. The worst case scenario is that it gets ignored.