by Amy Hite

Created on: October 21, 2009   Last Updated: October 21, 2010

Think of your resume as the first impression you make to a potential employer. You want it to appear polished, informative, and most importantly, grammatically correct. Now, put yourself in that potential employer's shoes. Weeding through what could be hundreds of resumes certainly cannot be fun, and when looking at stacks upon stacks of papers, there is a fine line between a well written resume and a jumble of nonsense words.

When deciding whether or not to include hobbies and interests in your resume, consider whether they will qualify as a mere addition of nonsense words, or whether they will make an already well written resume even more relevant to the job opportunity.

Relevance Versus Nonsense

Consider the occupation. For example, a recruiter scouring resumes for the company's next accountant probably does not care that you coach a little league baseball team. However, if you are applying for a position as a day care director, that hobby might make your resume stand out above all of the others. If you can spin your hobby or interest to fit attributes listed in the job description, it is worth including. There are certain interests that are never relevant. The fact that you like to shop for Prada shoes or play poker with your buddies on Friday nights would fall nicely into the nonsense category.

Length Does Matter

Again, think of your potential employer studying an endless amount of resumes. A two-pager with a lot of unnecessary words wasting valuable time would not classify you as a winner in the interview lottery. If you have so much work experience you have to push your resume to multiple pages, it is probably best not to overdo it even more by adding hobbies and interests as well.

Experience Sells

On the other hand, if you are a recent college graduate or are applying for a job in a new career and therefore have very little applicable work experience, noting certain hobbies can give an employer a great picture of your work ethic, personality, and character traits. You might have recently obtained a teaching degree and are applying for a job as a teacher in a special needs classroom. In this instance, your annual volunteer work with the Special Olympics would surely be an asset on your resume. In addition, it is a great idea to keep your resume as concise as possible, but one that barely fills half a page would probably get quickly passed over by a recruiter. Work on your spacing, and if you need some "filler," extracurricular activities that showcase your character can work wonders in making a sparse resume look more complete.

Remember the fine line between relevance and nonsense, and when in doubt, do not include your hobbies and interests. It is better to look professional than corny any day and if you must discuss those extracurricular activities you are so passionate about, save it for the interview you will surely score with your stellar resume.

Learn more about this author, Amy Hite.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.