Should You Mention Hobbies & Interests on Your Resume?
if you’re a recent graduate with little work experience, adding your hobbies and interests to your resume can help you stand out as a candidate, as well as help fill up your resume to take up an entire page. But enough with the hypotheticals! Let us tell you exactly when to mention hobbies and interests on your resume and how they can benefit your job application.
What’s the Difference Between Hobbies and Interests?
Hobbies show the hiring manager how you spend your free time and what kind of additional skills you may possess. For example, if you include “basketball” as your hobby, you’re also telling the hiring manager that you have great teamwork skills.
Interests, on the other hand, indicate what topics and ideas you’re currently interested in or you’d like to explore in the future. If, for example, you’re applying for a job that requires relocation and you list traveling as your interest, you may seem like a more relevant candidate because you enjoy traveling to new places.
10 Top Hobbies and Interests to Put On Your Resume
To help you avoid such a mistake, we’ve listed some of the best hobbies and interests to put on your resume, based on companies’ most commonly required skills and abilities:
#1. Community Involvement
Volunteering and community involvement is probably the best hobby/interest you could be adding to your resume, as it’s associated with 27% higher odds of employment.
In a nutshell, volunteering shows initiative, empathy, and the ability to see beyond your personal interests. On top of this, volunteering teaches organizational skills, teamwork, and leadership.
#2. Writing
Communication skills - both verbal and written - are some of the most sought-after soft skills by companies.
As such, having writing as a hobby can effectively show potential employers that your communication skills extend beyond the workplace and are, as such, stronger than other candidates.
#3. Blogging
Blogging is another hobby that proves you’ve got excellent communication skills, which is essential for most roles.
At the same time, blogging as a hobby also shows that you’re a self-starter that can work on independent projects, which is another very in-demand skill for most roles.
#4. Learning Languages
It’s no secret that speaking foreign languages can improve your chances of getting a job.
For starters, employers are always on the lookout for candidates who can communicate with people from different nationalities and can be an asset when dealing with international markets.
On top of that, learning languages is associated with improving valuable skills like problem-solving and dealing with abstract concepts, both of which are desirable employee skills.
Some of the jobs where listing learning languages as a hobby can come in handy include social workers, human resources managers, flight attendants, community health workers, hotel managers, customer service agents, etc.
#5. Photography
Just like all the other hobbies on this list, photography can represent you in more ways than “this candidate likes to take pictures.”
After all, photography takes creativity, interpersonal skills, and even technical skills!
This means that, in addition to all the jobs that require photography skills, there are many other positions out there that could benefit from a candidate who’s into photography.
#6. Travel
Traveling may not seem like the best hobby to include on your resume at first sight. After all, it simply involves picking a destination and being a tourist, right?
Well, not exactly.
Someone who loves traveling is also likely to be:
- Curious to learn new things, experience new cultures, and meet new people
- Well-organized and adaptable to new situations and people
- Not afraid to step out of their comfort zone
All of these personality traits make for an adaptable and flexible employee, something that employers appreciate!
#7. Sports
Sports - and any kind of physical activity, really - are known to improve brain health and your ability to do everyday activities.
Not only, but sports also help you develop self-discipline, teamwork, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
All of these are essential skills that could help you “adapt” your resume to different kinds of jobs.
#8. Reading
Reading is one of the best hobbies to put on your resume, regardless of what types of books you like to read.
Reading exercises the brain, improves the ability to focus, increases general knowledge, can sharpen your communication skills, and helps relieve stress.
#9. Making Music
Making music not only takes creativity, but also a lot of determination, patience, and endurance. Not to mention, studies show that playing an instrument can also improve your memory and focus.
Showing such qualities can instantly make you more attractive to hiring managers.
#10. Art
To do any kind of art, you need to be creative, which is among the most popular transferable skills companies are looking for in 2022.
According to this Adobe study, creativity has gained the most value in driving salary increases in the past five years. That’s also because creativity is also linked to inventiveness, imagination, and problem-solving abilities.