Should I include Personal Interests and Hobbies in my Resume

Guest post by: Tom Hannemann
Become an Author

Free PDF Download
When the Going Gets Tough .... - By Tom Hannemann

Interests, hobbies and other extra curricular activities are generally not included because they are usually not valid or reliable indicators of your ability to do the job. Some people believe that if a person is involved in certain types of activities outside work it indicates something about their personality or their leadership skills or some other traits. Most Organisational Psychologists will say that this is nonsense (but will use psychobabble in saying so) and can encourage type-casting and lead to erroneous assumptions. There is absolutely no basis for making a valid connection between what a person can do on the job and what they do outside work.

In any event, you usually have no way of knowing whether the people reading your resume will view your interests and hobbies as positive or negative. We therefore don't want to give them the opportunity to form a negative view at this early stage of the process.

This does not apply to graduate positions, where employers often want to know a person's interests and hobbies because there is usually little work experience from which to draw conclusions.

Employers may assume that people who have been leaders at school or university are somehow equipped to handle leadership roles at work. This is not necessarily true because many people become leaders at school or university because they have a personality and style that makes them charismatic and attractive. Whether they are effective in the leadership role is an altogether different question.

The Creative Resume

So You Need Resume Help

Personal Branding: It Doesn’t Have to be All Business

Resumes That Work

Should You Hire A Professional Resume Writer?

Understanding Resume Styles

Where To Send Your Brilliant Resume

Resume and Career Services: How Not To Be Sloppy In Writing Your Resume

Marketing Brand YOU

The Only Steps You Need To Get Your Dream Job

5 ways to pep your teamâ€™s work-life balance

Successful Marketing Strategies for The Job Seekers

Katie Yeakle Reveals What Never to Put in Your Resume

Top Ten Tips For Resume Writing

Ways To Build Personal Wealth

What to Write On Your About Me Page!

Sales Tip Whats The Best Day Of The Week

Home-based Business Idea: Writing Resume

You should include in your Health Information Technician Resume

Career Tips to Revamp Your Resume and Kick Start Your New Career

Home > Human-Resources > Tom Hannemann > Should I include Personal Interests and Hobbies in my Resume > Google +

Referred by: http://www.kyliehammond.com.au

Free PDF Download
When the Going Gets Tough .... - By Tom Hannemann

About the Author: Tom Hannemann

RSS for Tom's articles - Visit Tom's website
Tom Hannemann is Principal of Advance Yourself Career Services - http://www.advance-yourself.com.au - a firm dedicated to helping executives, managers and professionals advance their career by developing their resumes, helping them respond to selection criteria and helping them prepare for interviews. He has been Seek's resident resume writing expert since October 2000 and is the preferred resume writing service of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Recruitment firms, executive coaches and migration consultants refer their clients to him to ensure that they obtain the competitive advantage they need to become contenders for the best career opportunities. With an MBA from the University of Melbourne and an undergraduate degree majoring in Psychology, 10 years experience as an HR practitioner and manager and a further 10 years as a management consultant specialising in HR management, recruitment, organisational change and leadership development, Tom has the credentials needed to ensure that your resume is sufficiently persuasive to convince recruiters and employers to include you amongst the chosen few from the multitude.
Click here to visit Tom's website.

More from Tom Hannemann
Avoiding Horror Words and Phrases in your Resume
Should I include Personal Information in my Resume
Should I include Personal Interests and Hobbies in my Resume
Why an Outstanding Resume is Not Enough to Get an Interview Reason 4
Why External Diagonal Career Moves are Rare

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Should I include Personal Interests and Hobbies in my Resume

Related Articles

Related Forum Posts

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.


Name:
Email: