Hobbies & Interests on a Resume: Examples

A TopResume survey found that 26% of employers said a candidate's hobbies and interests have influenced their hiring decision. That's roughly one in four hiring managers forming opinions about you based on whether you play rugby, volunteer at a food bank, or build mechanical keyboards in your spare time.

And yet, most resume advice either tells you to skip hobbies entirely or gives you a generic list without explaining why any of it matters.

The truth is more nuanced. A well-chosen hobbies section can humanise your application, demonstrate transferable skills, and give you a memorable talking point in interviews. A poorly chosen one wastes space, looks unprofessional, or actively damages your chances.

This guide covers exactly when to include hobbies, which ones strengthen your application, which ones to avoid, and how to write them so they actually do something useful.

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Hobbies vs Interests: Is There a Difference?

You'll see both terms used interchangeably, and for resume purposes, the distinction barely matters. But if you want to be precise:

On a resume, the most effective entries combine both: an active hobby connected to a broader interest. "Landscape photography with a focus on urban decay and architectural preservation" is stronger than either "photography" or "architecture" alone.

For the rest of this guide, we'll use both terms interchangeably, as most employers do.

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Should You Include Hobbies on Your Resume?

This isn't a yes-or-no question. It depends on your situation.

When hobbies help

When to leave them off

The general rule: if your hobbies add something that the rest of your resume doesn't already communicate, include them. If they're just filler, leave them off.

For a broader look at how every section of your resume fits together, see our complete guide to writing a resume.

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Hobbies That Strengthen Your Application

Not all hobbies carry the same weight. The best ones signal specific qualities that employers value. Here's a breakdown of hobby categories, what they communicate, and which roles they're strongest for.

Sports and fitness

Team sports are particularly strong for early-career candidates. If you captained a university team or organised training sessions, that demonstrates real leadership before you've held a management title.

Creative pursuits

Creative hobbies work especially well when they produce something tangible. Saying you write a blog with 5,000 monthly readers is far more impressive than saying you "enjoy writing."

Volunteering and community

Volunteering is one of the safest and most universally positive hobbies you can list. It shows character without being controversial, and it often involves transferable skills that employers genuinely value.

Technology and coding

For technical roles, side projects can be almost as valuable as professional experience, especially early in your career. A portfolio of GitHub contributions or a personal app with real users tells a hiring manager far more than a hobbies section normally could.

Languages and travel

Languages are particularly valuable if the company operates internationally or serves diverse markets. Always state your proficiency level, as "conversational Spanish" is much more useful information than "Spanish."

Professional organisations and clubs

These are especially effective because they blur the line between hobby and professional development. A Toastmasters membership tells a hiring manager you're actively working on your communication skills, which is more credible than simply claiming "excellent communication" in your skills section.

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Hobbies to Avoid (or at Least Think Twice About)

Some hobbies can hurt more than they help. This doesn't mean they're bad hobbies, just that they're bad choices for a resume.

Controversial or polarising hobbies

Political activism, religious activities, and anything that could trigger unconscious bias should generally stay off your resume. This isn't about hiding who you are. It's about controlling the narrative in a context where you can't explain nuance. A hiring manager who disagrees with your political views might unconsciously rank you lower, and you'll never know it happened.

Exceptions: If you're applying to an organisation that explicitly shares those values (a faith-based charity, a political party, an advocacy group), then include them. Context matters.

Generic hobbies that say nothing

These are the resume equivalent of white noise:

The issue isn't that these are bad hobbies. It's that they're described too vaguely to communicate anything useful. As we'll cover in the next section, most of these can be rescued with better writing.

Hobbies that raise red flags

Some hobbies, fairly or unfairly, can make hiring managers question your judgement or availability:

• Extreme risk-taking hobbies (base jumping, street racing) may raise concerns about insurance costs or time off for injuries, particularly in physically demanding or safety-critical roles
• Hobbies that suggest excessive time commitment (competitive gaming at a professional level, training for ultra-endurance events) can make employers worry about your availability
• Anything illegal or borderline should obviously be left off entirely

Use common sense. If describing a hobby to a stranger at a professional networking event would make them pause, it probably doesn't belong on your resume.

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How to Write Hobbies (Specific vs Vague)

This is where most people go wrong. They list hobbies as single words, which strips away all the information that would actually make them impressive.

The rule is simple: be specific enough that the reader learns something about you.

Here are examples across different categories:

Weak: "Reading" Strong: "Non-fiction reading, particularly behavioural economics and leadership development"

Weak: "Sports" Strong: "Captain of a local five-a-side football team, organising weekly matches for 14 players"

Weak: "Volunteering" Strong: "Weekly volunteer at Hackney Food Bank, coordinating deliveries to 30+ households"

Weak: "Travel" Strong: "Independent travel across Southeast Asia, including a three-month solo trip through Vietnam and Cambodia"

Weak: "Cooking" Strong: "Home cooking with a focus on Japanese cuisine, completed an online patisserie course with Le Cordon Bleu"

Weak: "Music" Strong: "Grade 7 pianist, performed at three charity fundraising events in 2025"

Weak: "Gaming" Strong: "Competitive Valorant player (Diamond rank), team captain in amateur league with 12 members"

Weak: "Photography" Strong: "Landscape photography, work published in two regional exhibitions and a personal portfolio with 8,000 Instagram followers"

Weak: "Running" Strong: "Long-distance runner, completed the 2025 London Marathon in 3:42 and raised £2,400 for Cancer Research UK"

Weak: "Blogging" Strong: "Run a personal finance blog averaging 12,000 monthly readers, covering budgeting strategies for young professionals"

Weak: "Languages" Strong: "Conversational Mandarin (HSK 3), currently studying through weekly classes and language exchange sessions"

Weak: "Volunteering" Strong: "Monthly coding workshops for underprivileged teenagers through Code Your Future, teaching HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics"

Weak: "Crafts" Strong: "Furniture restoration and upcycling, completed 15 projects in 2025 and sell through a small Etsy shop"

Notice the pattern. Every strong example includes at least one of the following: a specific detail, a measurable result, a demonstration of skill, or a connection to something larger than the hobby itself.

You don't need to write a paragraph. One well-crafted line per hobby is enough. The goal is to give the reader a clear picture of who you are, not to fill space.

This is the same principle that applies to every other section of your resume. Specificity beats vagueness, always. If you're making similar mistakes in other areas, our guide on common resume mistakes covers the most frequent ones.

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Industry-Specific Guidance

The hobbies that impress vary significantly by industry. What works for a creative agency will fall flat at a management consultancy, and vice versa.

If you're unsure whether your hobbies fit, ask yourself: "Would this hobby give me something to talk about in an interview for this specific role?" If the answer is yes, include it. If it would lead to an awkward silence, leave it out.

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Where to Put Hobbies on Your Resume

Placement matters more than most people realise. The wrong placement can make your hobbies look more important than they are, or bury them so deep that nobody reads them.

The standard placement

For most candidates, hobbies belong at the very bottom of your resume, after Education, Skills, and any other substantive sections. This is the conventional position and the one recruiters expect.

Your resume should follow this general hierarchy:

1. Contact information and professional summary
2. Work experience
3. Education
4. Skills
5. Certifications (if applicable)
6. Hobbies and interests

How much space to give it

Keep your hobbies section to two to four lines maximum. This is not a section that should dominate your resume. A concise, well-written line or two is far more effective than a sprawling list.

Good example:

Interests: Captain of Brixton FC (five-a-side), weekly volunteer coordinator at Hackney Food Bank, non-fiction reading (behavioural economics), Grade 7 piano.

That's four hobbies in two lines, each one specific enough to be meaningful. No wasted space.

Section naming

You have a few options for the section heading:

Avoid headings like "About Me" or "Personal" as they sound informal and aren't what recruiters are scanning for.

Formatting tips

• Use a single line or short list. Don't use bullet points for each individual hobby unless you're providing substantial detail for each one.
• Be consistent with the rest of your resume. If your other sections use bullet points, use them here too. If you use a comma-separated list elsewhere, do the same.
• Don't use icons or emojis. These can cause ATS parsing issues and look unprofessional on most templates.

If you're building your resume with JobSprout, you can add a clean hobbies section that stays consistent with the formatting of your chosen template, so you don't need to worry about spacing or alignment.

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Common Questions

How many hobbies should I list?

Three to five is the sweet spot. Fewer than three looks thin, and more than five starts to feel like padding. Quality over quantity, always.

Should I include hobbies if I'm a senior professional?

Generally, no. If you have 10+ years of experience, your career history should be doing the heavy lifting. The exception is if you hold a notable position (charity board member, published author, sports coach) that adds genuine credibility.

Can hobbies compensate for a lack of experience?

To a degree, yes. If you're a recent graduate or teenager writing their first resume, leading a university society or school club shows organisational skills. If you're switching to marketing, running a blog with real traffic demonstrates relevant ability. But hobbies supplement experience, they don't replace it.

Should I tailor my hobbies to each job application?

You don't need to rewrite the section for every application, but you should consider which hobbies to highlight. If you have five hobbies and two are particularly relevant to a specific role, lead with those. The same tailoring principle that applies to your skills section applies here, just with lighter effort.

Do ATS systems read the hobbies section?

Most ATS platforms parse the full text of your resume, including hobbies. While hobbies aren't typically used for keyword filtering, relevant terms (like specific software, languages, or certifications mentioned in your hobbies) can sometimes contribute to your overall match score.

What if I don't have any impressive hobbies?

You don't need to climb Kilimanjaro or run an open-source framework. Everyday hobbies become impressive when described with specificity and genuine enthusiasm. "Cooking" is forgettable. "Home cooking with a focus on fermentation, currently maintaining three active sourdough starters and a batch of homemade kimchi" is memorable, specific, and shows dedication.

If you truly can't think of anything that would add value, that's fine. Leave the section off entirely. An honest resume with no hobbies section is always better than one padded with generic filler. Focus your energy on strengthening the sections that carry more weight, like your experience and skills.

Should I mention hobbies in my cover letter instead?

Sometimes, yes. If a specific hobby directly relates to the role or company culture, weaving it into a cover letter can feel more natural than listing it on your resume. For example, mentioning your marathon training in a cover letter for a role at a fitness brand creates a narrative connection that a resume line can't match. But this is supplementary. If you mention a hobby in your cover letter, you can still list it on your resume too.

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Final Thoughts

The hobbies section is optional, but it's not unimportant. When used well, it gives recruiters a glimpse of who you are beyond your job titles and qualifications. It can be the thing that makes you memorable in a stack of 200 near-identical applications.

The key principles are straightforward:

• Include hobbies only when they add something your resume doesn't already communicate
• Be specific. One well-described hobby is worth five vague ones
• Match your hobbies to the role and industry where possible
• Keep it short. Two to four lines at the bottom of your resume
• Avoid anything controversial, passive, or generic without further detail

If you're unsure whether your hobbies section is working, try reading it out loud as if you were introducing yourself to a hiring manager. If it sounds interesting and relevant, keep it. If it sounds like something everyone would say, rewrite it or remove it.

Your resume has limited space. Make every line earn its place.