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Listing Hobbies and Interests on Your Resume

Listing Hobbies and Interests on Your Resume - It is important to include only relevant information that also makes you stand out to employers on your resume. From basic personal data, education background, achievement, and portfolios are among the most important information you should put on your resume. However, you can also share your hobbies and interests on your resume by placing them on the bottom of the page.

One of the conditions that make listing hobbies and interests proper is when you still don’t have much professional experience to write on your resume. Listing hobbies and interests can inform your employers about your potential and passions indirectly. This article will help you to understand more and carry this out properly.

First of all, do you know the difference between hobbies and interests?

By definition, a hobby is a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation, especially for relaxation. It’s an activity people choose to do only when they have leisure time for pleasure. It’s also okay to list many hobbies on your resume as long as it’s relevant to your whole resume.

Meanwhile, an interest is a subject that someone is passionate about. The subject that they are interested in makes them have such a high desire to learn more about this subject. Interests are very personal and it’s possible to direct your interest by learning more about an activity or keep educating yourself about the subject.

The characteristics of hobbies and interests are different. The characteristics of hobbies are adopting, static, long-term, and tend to have a vision. While interests are adapting, dynamic, short-time, and tend to be quite objective.

In order you can place and list hobbies and interests in a proper way, there are five differences of hobbies and interests that you should know.

1. An interest can develop into a hobby, a hobby can expose you to new interests, each word still define a different action

It means that hobbies and interests can be interrelated but both remain different as it has already explained in the definition. There's a certain pattern between interest and hobby. Generally, it all can be started from interest in a subject. Then it develops into a hobby that creates a further interest that might charm another new hobby.

This can happen as humans are driven by curiosity and passions. One curiosity is finally being broken, leading to breaking another curiosity and the cycle keeps going. Making humans keep exploring subjects they are interested in and unleashing their curiosity as a natural thing.

For example, you have an interest in arts. You may have a hobby visiting art museums. Some time later, visiting an art museum isn’t the only hobby that you have. The more art you see, the more you want to try it out. And then you start creating art and find out enjoying the process during your free time. This progress keeps progressing and continues.

2. Hobbies are activities and require participation

Hobbies can be equated with activities and to make it happen, you have to participate. Your eagerness to be active and keep up with your hobby regularly is driven by your interest. It’s the desire to learn more about subjects with the potential to become activities.

For example, you may be interested in theater performance. It will only remain as interest if you don’t do anything about it. To make it a hobby, you can start by coming to theater performances and keep visiting such events anytime you have free time.

3. Hobbies tend to be consistent

There’s dedication in maintaining your hobbies routine. This quality is what actually can attract employers to consider your resume. For example, if your hobby is collecting stamps, you may consistently find new stamps and continue building your collection.

4. Spend free time with your hobbies

Hobbies are supposed to be enjoyed and experienced during free time. The purpose is so you can have the pleasure of spending the time doing what you love. It’s something that engages you outside of work and makes you feel great.

5. You can make an income from an interest

For example, if you have interest in a certain school subject and have the skills to teach, you should consider offering a tutor service. Starting from your interest, you can earn extra money with a side job as a tutor. Another example is if you have interest and skills in fixing electronics such as computers, you can earn money by offering your service to fix the client's computer. The same goes with other interests as well.

Read More: 3 Creative Ways You Can Improve Your Service Crew Resume

Here are examples of hobbies and interests that you fit your preference and you can put on your resume.

1. If you have interest in sports

Any kind of sports that you are interested in is suitable to be written on your resume. The reason you’re suggested to put your sports interest is who knows your employers also have interest in the same sport as you. That can benefit you in the most surprising way.

If not, they can tell what kind of person you are from the sport you’re listed. Since sports can be distinguished into two types: individual and team-oriented. It’s more likely showing whether you are the type to work well with others, you have the self-perseverance to work alone, or balance both.

Sports are also commonly categorized by whether it’s indoor or outdoor. Both can show what kind of environment you are comfortable with. Though the employers are less likely to be outspoken about this matter, they will keep in mind about your preferences.

 For the employers, any type can be taken into consideration. The only thing that makes it different is whether your resume as a whole meets what the employers are looking for from the candidates, from you.

Here are list of hobbies related to sport interest that you can put on your resume:

  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Volleyball
  • Marathon
  • Skiing
  • Tennis
  • Cycling
  • Swimming
  • Baseball
  • Mountain climbing
  • Badminton
  • Jogging
  • Yoga
  • Diving
  • Equestrian
  • Fencing
  • Golf
  • Sailing
  • Shooting
  • Skateboarding
  • Softball
  • Weightlifting
  • All type of martial arts

 

2. If you have interest in analytical thinking

If you have a huge interest in analytical thinking activities, you’re more likely drawn to hobbies that stimulate your analytical thinking. Putting this interest and the hobbies related on your resume will benefit you in a way your employers might think you have good problem solving skills. Especially if the job you are applying for is the type that requires a lot of out-of-the-box thinking.

Not only you may have good problem solving skills, you are also a creative person because you tend to solve and think out-of-the-box. Emphasize to your employers during the interview how your interest in analytical thinking is relevant to the job position you’re applying for. Also, by showing your employers you actually have interest in analytical thinking activities, they’d consider you have these qualities that will raise the chance for you to be hired.

  • Researching
  • Forecasting
  • Data mining
  • Data and metrics interpreting
  • Reporting
  • Organization
  • Communication
  • Diagnostics
  • Troubleshooting
  • Theorizing
  • Brainstorming
  • Problem-solving
  • Creative

Here are list of hobbies related to analytical thinking interest that you can put on your resume:

  • Painting
  • Writing
  • Designing
  • Photography
  • Sketching
  • Reading
  • Chess
  • Coding
  • Woodcarving
  • Videography
  • Playing a musical instrument

Read More: How To Accept a Job Offer

3. If you have interest in socializing

To have interest in socializing is a positive and an advantage of its own. Through socializing itself, you gain networks that will benefit you in the present time and future. It means you’re most likely to be easier initiating conversation with new people.

This interest isn't only applicable for extroverts as you may have imagined as you are reading this, introvert and ambivert can also be adept in socializing. It’s about effort, interest, passions, and goals. So having interest in socializing is not only for the extrovert, but also the introverts and the ambiverts.

By having this interest, your employers might think that you are someone who can work well with others. This is the quality that makes employers want to hire you. Especially if the job that you’re applying for requires you to interact with people more.

Here are list of hobbies related to socializing interest that you can put on your resume:

  • Join courses or classes
  • Camping
  • Dancing
  • Traveling
  • Public speaking
  • Volunteering
  • Local meetups
  • Networking events
  • Board games
  • Creating or organizing a club or community

Each hobby mentioned above can be specified into a more specific activity. This category of interest has a wide range of hobbies and activities. For example, if you are currently interested in food and cooking, you can join cooking classes.

However, if you are a visionary and forward-thinking type of person, you are also the pioneer of the club or community. You can absolutely list them on your resume. For example, you can list you’re active in a cooking club and you’re also the pioneer. That will be a great point for you.

 

4. If you have unique interest

Interests and hobbies are not limited only in these four categories. The purpose of this last category is to include other hobbies that intersect between several activities or interests. This category is also for people with unique hobbies that not a lot of people are into. The unique hobbies you listed can work in your favor and help you stand out as long as it’s still relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Here are list of hobbies related to unique interest or other interest and hobbies that haven’t been mentioned previously you can put on your resume:

  • Gardening
  • Stand-up comedy
  • Baking
  • Journaling
  • Calligraphy
  • Archery
  • Learning foreign languages

The interests and hobbies category explained above aren’t as strict as it seems. Since hobbies and interests can be interrelated. In some ways, one interest can be matched up with another hobby. It can depend on what interest and hobby you’re focusing on.

If your hobbies and interests aren’t listed here, you can always include them on your resume. As long as you think it can support your resume and convince your employers that your interests and hobbies can impact your performance well, you should just list them.

Read More: The Different CV and Resume

1. List hobbies or interests that are relevant to the job you’re applying for

This point has been several times mentioned throughout this article. It’s important because the point of listing hobbies or interests is to support your resume becoming more interesting in the eyes of the employers.

If you are applying to become a teacher, you should include your experience in volunteering as a teacher. The image that the employer got from this is that you are actually passionate about the field you have chosen and can use your free time wisely by helping others.

2. Be honest and responsible with the list

You should be confident with the hobbies and interests that you actually like. Do not exaggerate your lists just to impress without being responsible with what you stated on the resume. It’s possible that your employers will ask you further questions related to your lists for many reasons. For that reason, it’s better to not exaggerate your list.

Now that you are already honest and responsible with your list, you still need to be prepared with probable questions from the employers. They may give you further questions related to your list because they’re genuinely interested in it.

3. Use hobbies or interests to fill any gaps on your resume

When the employers realize you have a gap in your resume, they will ask you why. This question certainly can stress you out. Listing hobbies or interests on your resume can help you to answer that question. Tell them that you’ve been focusing on hobbies. Hobbies and interests also allow the employers to gain an idea of what you may be like outside of work to see how well you may fit in with the coworkers.

Finally, you are encouraged to list hobbies and interests on your resume if it’s an entry level type of job. If you’re just graduated from school and yet to have enough professional experience, you’re welcome to list them. The lists that you have made can influence the employers to be more interested with you and raise the chance of you getting hired.

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