When you're trying to land interviews, the “Interests” section of your resume probably feels like the least important thing. It’s the one you throw in at the end, if there’s space. But the thing is, when done right, this tiny section can actually pull more weight than you think.
Because the job market isn’t just about qualifications anymore.
So when you’re early in your career, switching industries, or applying somewhere with a strong company culture, your interests can hint at soft skills, values, or even future potential that your work history alone doesn’t cover.
Should You Include Interests on a Resume?
In most cases, yes, especially if you’re early in your career.
If you’re a student, recent grad, or still building experience, adding a short “Interests” section can actually work in your favor. It gives hiring teams a more human glimpse of who you are, beyond degrees and internships. And when done right, it can help reinforce some of your soft skills, and show you’d be a good culture fit for the team.
For example, if you’ve organized college fests, volunteered at local events, or been part of a sports club, that says something about your leadership, collaboration, or commitment. If you enjoy building passion projects or writing online, that hints at creativity and consistency.
That said, if you’re further along in your career, this section becomes optional. And it’s helpful only if your interest adds something meaningful to your application, like aligning with the company’s values or showing your long-term passion for the field. (For example, applying to a health and wellness startup might be a great time to highlight your long-distance running hobby.) Otherwise, your experience will do the heavy lifting.
The key is relevance. If your interests support your application and speak to who you are as a professional and a person, they’re worth including.
The Benefits of Listing Interests on a Resume
Helps you stand out from the crowd
Most resumes start to look the same to recruiters after a while. They see the same degrees, same tools, similar job titles. But your interests are unique, and only YOURS. So that’s where your individuality comes through and gives you a chance to show a bit more of who you are as a person, not just a list of qualifications. And in a sea of similar applications, that small personal touch can help you stand out.
Builds Connection before you even get interviewed
When your interests align with a company’s culture, values, or even just the vibe of the team, it builds instant rapport. For example, if you're applying to a mission-driven nonprofit or a startup with a strong community focus, mentioning your regular volunteering work can subtly tell them, Hey, I already care about what YOU care about.
Similarly, if you're applying for a developer role at a tech company that values open collaboration or uses open-source tools, listing “open-source contributions” can hint at initiative, and a passion for building beyond 9-5. A hiring manager in that environment is more likely to notice that detail and think, “Okay, this person gets it.”
Gives interviewers something to talk to you about
Interviewers often look for ways to make candidates feel at ease, and your interests section is often their go-to. If you’ve listed something a little different (but relevant), they could bring it up first. You two might have shared hobbies, or you could have some unexpected passions that spike their interest in you; all of these things can turn into great conversations, and that rapport can leave a lasting impression.
Reinforce your soft skills
When you’ve listed soft skills like “creative, team player, communicative”, the interests section will become another place to back them up with what you do when you’re not formally working.
For example:
- Enjoy photography? That speaks to creativity and attention to detail.
- Play in a sports league? There’s teamwork and discipline.
- Run a small online shop? That shows initiative, problem-solving, and consistency.
It humanizes you in a digital process
So much of hiring today is automated - keyword scans, algorithms, online forms. It can all feel a bit…cold. So when you add a line or two about what excites you outside of work, it makes your application feel more personal. It reminds the reader there’s a real person behind the resume, someone with interests, curiosity, and character.
Gives you an edge in people-first roles
For jobs where soft skills and culture fit really matter, like customer support, marketing, education, HR, or any client-facing role, your personality can be just as important as your qualifications. And well-chosen interests can show that you’d bring the right energy to the team.
Best Types of Interests to Include
Here are a few examples of interests that signal valuable soft skills or mindset traits, along with the kinds of roles or industries where they’re especially relevant. You can use this to spot what you might already have in your back pocket.
Collaborative or Team-Based Interests
Examples: Sports teams, theater groups, group travel planning, hackathons
Why they work: They demonstrate teamwork, communication, and adaptability, which are core to almost any role involving people.
Where to use them:
- Project management
- Customer-facing roles (e.g. customer success, sales, hospitality)
- Tech roles in agile environments
- Marketing or media production teams
Creative Hobbies
Examples: Creative writing, digital illustration, painting, music production, podcasting
Why they work: They reflect originality, storytelling ability, and attention to aesthetics, often tough to show through job titles alone.
Where to use them:
- Content marketing
- UX/UI design
- Branding or social media roles
- Any role at a company that values innovation or visual communication
Technical Side Projects
Examples: Coding apps, contributing to open-source, building custom PCs, automation scripting
Why they work: They show initiative, problem-solving, and real-world application of technical skills. Often more impressive than coursework alone.
Where to use them:
- Software engineering
- DevOps or IT roles
- QA testing
- Data analysis
- Technical product management
Volunteering and Mentorship
Examples: Community outreach, tutoring students, organizing fundraising events
Why they work: These reflect empathy, leadership, and the ability to work toward something bigger than yourself, traits that matter deeply in mission-driven work.
Where to use them:
- Education, edtech, or youth programs
- HR or employee experience roles
- Nonprofits or CSR-driven companies
- People management or leadership-track roles
Intellectually Curious Activities
Examples: Learning new languages, chess, book clubs, public speaking
Why they work: They point to curiosity, self-motivation, and a growth mindset, especially useful in fast-moving or knowledge-heavy environments.
Where to use them:
- Consulting or strategy roles
- Research or data-heavy jobs
- Education or training
- Roles requiring critical thinking (e.g., product, policy, operations)
Fitness and Wellness
Examples: Running, yoga, martial arts, hiking clubs
Why they work: They show discipline, self-awareness, and healthy habits, traits that employers often associate with focus and stress management.
Where to use them:
- Wellness or healthcare startups
- Roles in high-pressure environments (e.g. sales, law, tech)
- Culture-first companies that promote work-life balance
Leadership and Initiative
Examples: Starting a student organization, launching a blog or online store, leading peer study groups
Why they work: These are strong proofs of ownership, vision, and self-starting energy, which is exactly the kind of mindset startups and leadership-track roles seek.
Where to use them:
- Startups or founder-led companies
- Entrepreneurship or venture roles
- Product management
- Growth or strategy teams
Interests That Might Hurt More Than Help
Not all interests help your cause; some just take up space, and others might unintentionally work against you. So if you're going to include this section, a little filtering goes a long way.
Controversial Topics
This is one big one to watch out for - mainly includes interests around religion or politics. Those things might matter a lot to you personally, but on a resume, they don’t help at all unless they’re directly tied to the kind of work you're applying for (say, a policy research org or a faith-based nonprofit). The reason is that they can easily pull focus or, worse, create unconscious bias. And you don’t want that - not when you're just trying to get your foot in the door.
Passive or Non-Engaging Activities
Another thing to avoid is adding interests that feel too passive.
Saying you “love binge-watching TV” or “scrolling Instagram” might be honest, but it doesn’t really tell a recruiter anything useful. So you’re better off using that space to show curiosity or initiative.
Overused or Vague Interests
Vague catch-alls like “travel” or “reading” are also super common, but they don’t carry much weight unless you make them specific. Like, you like reading what? Or traveling how?. For example, it’d make more sense if you say “Reading translated fiction from emerging authors” or “planning budget trips for friends” .
Outdated or Hyper-Niche References
Then there are the hobbies that feel dated or oddly specific. Like stamp collecting or historical reenactments. Now, if you can tie those to relevant traits, attention to detail, love of research, and patience, that’s great. But if not, they might feel very random - as if you just added them to fill out the “interest” part in the resume template.
So basically, before you add anything here, ask yourself: Does this add something new to how I’m already showing up? If yes, keep it in. If not, or if it’s the kind of thing that might distract or confuse, maybe leave it out for now.
How to Tailor Interests to the Role
This part is where most people either overthink or underthink their interests section. Some skip it entirely because they don’t see the point and others throw in something random like “watching movies” just to fill the space. But if you’re intentional about it, your interests can do A LOT for you.
The trick is to treat it like any other part of your resume, something you tailor to the role, and not treat it like just a generic list of what you enjoy doing on weekends.
That said, you don’t need to fake anything or invent hobbies you don’t have because it’s all about surfacing the interests that do exist but haven’t made it to your resume yet because you didn’t realize they could help your case.
Research the company
Start by looking into the company you're applying to.
The job posting comes first, of course, but then ALSO the company as a WHOLE. Check their About page, scroll through their socials, and read employee reviews on Glassdoor.
Are they big on wellness and mental health? Mention your hiking group or weekly yoga sessions.
Are they a mission-driven nonprofit? Bring in that community work you’ve done, even if it’s informal.
Do they run on creativity, like a design studio or a content-led SaaS? Share that photography or side podcast project.
Align soft skills with interests
Think about what kind of soft skills the role needs - do you have them? And do your interests back those up?
For example, if the job calls for leadership potential, and you’ve started a student club, organized events, or led a team hackathon, those things absolutely count.
Same goes for collaboration-heavy roles, anything that shows you thrive in team environments (like sports, group theater, or even planning trips with friends) can signal that you’re not just a solo act.
Don’t treat them like an afterthought
Lastly, make sure your resume layout gives your interests the space they deserve, not as a throwaway line at the bottom.
Using Careerflow’s Resume Builder, you can choose from a bank of many different layouts/templates, all of which include an interests section that actually looks intentional, not like you just squeezed it in.
That way, it reads as part of your story, not just extra padding.
Where to Put Interests on Your Resume
Most of the time, your interests will sit near the bottom of your resume. You can title the section something simple like “Interests,” “Hobbies & Interests,” or even “Extracurriculars” if you’re a student or early in your career.
But there are exceptions.
If you’re applying to a creative role or building a resume that leans into personality, say, for a startup, design agency, or content-led company, you might give your interests a little more visibility.
You can put them in a sidebar feature. Or give it a dedicated section just under your skills. You have all the options.
And as for the format, bullet points are your best friend. They keep things clean and easy to skim, which is exactly what recruiters need. And if one of your interests adds real context or shows off initiative, you can include a short description too. Something like:
- Lead guitarist in a weekend blues band
- Organizer of monthly STEM book club
- Volunteered with local animal rescue for 2+ years
Just don’t go overboard with these. 4 - 6 interests is a good sweet spot and it’s enough to show range without turning your resume into a personality quiz.
And keep the formatting aligned with the rest of your layout. No fancy icons or odd spacing, please.
Use AI Tools to Present Your Interests Effectively
With Careerflow’s Resume Builder, you don’t have to guess where or how to include your interests. It helps you build a layout where everything, skills, experience, and yes, even hobbies, has a place that makes sense.
Even better, the built-in AI actually helps you tailor your resume to each job by suggesting keywords and competencies that match the role. That means if a job subtly values creativity, collaboration, or initiative, the right hobby (worded the right way) can reinforce your fit, without sounding try-hard.
And if you're using Careerflow’s AI Cover Letter Generator, it can pull one or two interests into the bigger picture of your career story, adding depth to your application that generic templates miss.
Also, if you’re applying to multiple roles across industries or levels, Careerflow’s Job tracker makes it super easy to manage different versions of your resume, so you’re not stuck copying and pasting the same bullet points or forgetting to tweak that one hobby that could actually tip the scale in your favor.
