What Your Hobbies and Interests Say About You to Employers.

Did you think that hobbies and interests are a dull, inconsequential section at the end of your resume/CV that no-one pays attention too?

If you did think that hobbies were not important, then think again. Because a recent study by North Western’s, prestigious Kellog School of Management found that hiring managers were choosing people that they liked and thought they could get on with and have fun with socially, and this was usually more important than qualifications and experience.

What was also interesting was how they established whether they would like this person and whether they would be a good cultural fit. You can probably guess, they used the employee’s hobbies and interests as a guide to the type of person the employee might be.

So, now we understand that the Hobbies and Interests section of your resume is being read by employers and that they are using it to make a superficial assessment of your cultural fit, you probably want to know what your hobbies and interests might say about you to potential employers.

Well, a recent article on Business Insider, presented an excerpt from a book Crazy Good Interviewing: How Acting A Little Crazy Can Get You The Job which listed popular hobbies and interests and the kind of personal qualities that are associated with people who engage in these past-times which were:

1. If you like to cook, you have a creative side and can improvise when not all ingredients are at hand.
2. If you like to fish, you are very patient and focused. You could be good with children or working with elderly people.
3. If you are a chess player, then you might be saavy at developing business strategies.
4. If you are an athlete, you may be aggressive in achieving sale goals or annual sale targets.
5. If you are actively involved in community groups, you may have some managerial potential.
6. If you like playing Scrabble or doing crossword puzzles, you probably have a broad vocabulary and perhaps some untapped writing skills.
7. If you’re an avid reader, you have a thirst for knowledge and might be a good researcher.
8. If you sell your handmade crafts, you may have a business head for selling other products.
9. If you have several pets, you can apply your love of animals in a job as a veterinary assistant or become a veterinarian.
10. If you were a summer camp counselor, then you may have good leadership skills.
11. If you like to build computers, you have the aptitude to be an IT tech.
12. If you like to shoot skeet or hunt, you may be qualified to enter the police academy.
13. If you know karate or judo or belong to a fight club, you may qualify as a bodyguard or a prison guard.

Now, I bet you will never look at your hobbies and interests section of your resume in the same way again!

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• Why ‘Hobbies and Interests’ Are The Most Important Part of Your Resume (Study)