Before the days of prodding around Google and Facebook (an activity not considered best practice by many) employers often solely relied on the familiar section of the résumé labeled “Hobbies and Interests.” It has traditionally offered business leaders and HR professionals an opportunity to gain insight into the life of the applicant beyond education and past work experience.
In a syndicated post at Ragan’s HR Communication, Amber Carucci of the corporate and HR blog for Burns & McDonnell suggests that applicants not include hobbies/interests in their résumé and that “employers will often look at a hobby section as filler.” Instead, she suggests that an applicant include them on their LinkedIn profile or find a way to bring them up in the interview if one is attempting to find common ground.
While the rest of Carucci’s post makes some great points, I find myself at odds with her suggestion to remove the hobbies and interests portion of the résumé. I believe this section can offer the hiring representative an opportunity to better understand how an applicant may fit into the company. I’d also argue that it’s not entirely just personal or filler. Below are three points on why the section is a great opportunity for both the applicant in securing the job and the hiring representative in better understanding the applicant.
1. It is an opportunity to show off relevant, even useful, interests. If you’re hiring for a position in the entertainment industry, it would probably help if you know that the applicant watches television, reads entertainment blogs, keeps up with celebrity news, etc. “I enjoy watching television (Gossip Girl is fantastic!), going on hikes, and…” would look very awkward for a company that has no interest in your television-viewing habits. But what if the applicant is applying for a position involving fashion or television? What if customers of the particular industry are girls and women aged 13-28? Chances are that the appreciation shown for Gossip Girl would be of interest.
2. It is also an opportunity to show concern for professionalism development. Maybe the applicant belongs to a professional organization of some kind. Beyond listing this membership elsewhere in the résumé, it may be a place for stating “I enjoy spending time with my friends and meeting new people, especially at [professional organization] events.” Or, an applicant may be applying for a position in the financial sector. If they wrote “I enjoy reading finance and investment blogs…” the fact that they read such material could really set them apart from someone who may just want the job and not the career.
3. Lastly the section is an opportunity for the applicant to simply stick out among other applicants. This may be particularly important in certain fields. If an applicant is looking for work as a programmer he or she may be interested in listing something other than love for open source technology and computer games in the Hobbies and Interests section. Maybe this would be the part of the résumé to briefly reference one’s love for art and drawing. What did you as the employer just learn about the otherwise likely logical and precise coder? That they could have an abstract and creative mind in addition to their more logical skill set.

What do you think about the Hobbies/Interests section of a résumé?