Ahhhh interests.
Today, I talk about them.
People often ask me if they should put "Interests" or "Hobbies" on their resumes.
Unfortunately the people that really should be asking me this question (aka the people I'm about to make fun of) don't.
But if I didn't get this kind of garbage in my inbox, I wouldn't have anything fun to write about now would I?
Nope!
So let's continue, shall we?
Today I'm going to cover the category of "Interests". Sometimes confused with "Hobbies". They are kind of interchangeable, no? Yet people list them both, separately, on their resumes all the time.
First of all, unless you have a VERY specific job and specialty that you are going after, please don't put either on your resume. They do nothing more than make us HR/Recruiter types LAUGH AT YOU. A rare example of a time when it might actually be appropriate to list an interest or a hobby would be when you really want to work for a company that makes remote control toys and you put that you are very into RC stuff like this guy:
That's completely acceptable.
But most people in our current economy are applying for so many different random jobs, it's just not a good idea to list any of that stuff.
Here are some examples from actual resumes I've saved over the last few weeks- complete with my commentary (of course) in the parentheses after:
Today, I talk about them.
People often ask me if they should put "Interests" or "Hobbies" on their resumes.
Unfortunately the people that really should be asking me this question (aka the people I'm about to make fun of) don't.
But if I didn't get this kind of garbage in my inbox, I wouldn't have anything fun to write about now would I?
Nope!
So let's continue, shall we?
Today I'm going to cover the category of "Interests". Sometimes confused with "Hobbies". They are kind of interchangeable, no? Yet people list them both, separately, on their resumes all the time.
First of all, unless you have a VERY specific job and specialty that you are going after, please don't put either on your resume. They do nothing more than make us HR/Recruiter types LAUGH AT YOU. A rare example of a time when it might actually be appropriate to list an interest or a hobby would be when you really want to work for a company that makes remote control toys and you put that you are very into RC stuff like this guy:
That's completely acceptable.
But most people in our current economy are applying for so many different random jobs, it's just not a good idea to list any of that stuff.
Here are some examples from actual resumes I've saved over the last few weeks- complete with my commentary (of course) in the parentheses after:
"I like to read bestsellers and browse the web."
(And for originality, a ZERO! Because NOBODY else on this planet likes to read bestsellers or browse the web...)
"I like to workout."
(A lot of people have been putting this lately, and quite frankly? It's getting annoying.
Anyone else out there notice that the people in our society that are actually in shape don't really talk about it? It's usually the out of shape, fluffy ones that are constantly discussing working out... how they went and did it or how they're planning on doing it. It gets old people, stop talking about it already and either just go do it or don't. End of story.)
"Ize not fat, Ize Fluffy!"
"I enjoy amusement parks."
(Really? I mean how low of an IQ level do you have to be to put this as your interest??)
"Growing my kids."
(WTF does this even mean??)
"I enjoy fixing things"
(This from a guy that had about 17 things wrong with his resume.
Dude. How about starting by FIXING YOUR RESUME??)
"I enjoy drink paring and record ablum collecting."
(Were you doing the paring before or after you typed "ablum" collecting?)
"Interests: Anything that fascinates me"
"Interests: Relaxing"
(Oh SO original and necessary to list on your resume as again, NOBODY else likes to do this...)
And last but not least, by far one of my favorites...
"Interests: Giving people advice"
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