[Iggy1985]

So, my school recommends putting an ‘interests’ section at the bottom of your resume… but that’s a real problem for me.. I don’t feel like I have that many ‘hobbies’ that are OK in the professional world lol..

My hobbies without any kind of filter include;

Building computers and serving as tech support for my friends and family

Collecting retro PC games and maps

Playing with my dog

Reading – but I’ve only read George R.R. Martin Books in the past 3 years >_>

Finding deals online and getting free stuff lol

Interior Decorating

Started creating my own PC game, attempted Unity and then did a rough draft kind of thing in RPG maker.. Would like to teach myself to code when I have free time someday, maybe develop an app or just an indie PC game..

I like to make mods in photoshop so you can mod your games to wear different armor, clothes and what not..

Love to cook and try new recipes, or mash recipes together to create something ridiculous and awesome..

I also like to camp, hike, and kayak in the summer..

I feel like none of this is stuff I can put on a resume and talk about to some old fuddy duddy who has no idea.. so basically I feel like I have zero hobbies and I’m super boring.

Last year my resume just said; reading, cooking, kayaking, camping, computer hardware, graphic design.

I think like 2 people I interviewed with out of 15 thought it was cool that I was working on my own PC game.. I did get the internship I wanted but now I’m going for Big 4 this fall full-time… 1 person from my second choice firm also liked what we talked about concerning reading, and she recommended I read the Harry Potter books lol, so now that’s on my shelf but of course I haven’t read it yet >_> all my free time goes to Diablo 3 right now.. Basically my question is how do you become a professional public accountant while being a gamer and a huge nerd at the same time I guess.

Should I follow the advice and list a hobbies section? Should I just be confident in my hobbies and put it all out there? Should I not include any of it at all? ugh. I do feel like it provides talking points in an interview, but only if the person relates with you, and that’s so hard to predict :/

Hopefully someone else has felt this way and can give me some advice, thanks 🙂

Also I was hoping to throw FAR score on there so I haven’t submitted my application yet, and no scores yet!!! ahhhhhh!!

FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
REG - (8/14/15)

[10keyLeah]

I've always read that if you include hobbies to only include hobbies that are related to the job position. That goes for work experience too. Include stuff relevant to the position for which you are applying. Some say to leave out hobbies altogether. Just stick to the stuff relevant to the job.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[acamp]

Interests: Computers and Technology, Graphic Arts, Savvy online purchasing, Interior Decorating, Cooking, Camping, Hiking and Kayaking.

Sorry I skipped video game collecting, lol. Stick with ones that you can have an interesting conversation with and ones that don't run of the risk of having negative connotations. ie: if Cooking, can you rattle off something interesting? If Hiking, do you have a decent story or favorite place you like to go? Savvy purchasing, do you have a good example of a great deal you nailed down? (I got my wife Ugg(ly) boots for under $100 from an authorized retailer website by way of discounted giftcards and a Bing cashback program once upon a time lol).

In a nutshell, 1. Does the activity have any possibility of any negative connotations? 2. Can you have an interesting conversation surrounding that activity?

Self proclaimed: Highest ratio of Replies to Others v. Posts Created on A71

California CPA - Big4 Aud Manager Alum - Private Accounting at Startups

FAR, REG and BEC with Ninja Notes + WTB Only

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Anonymous]

Here's my 2 cents as a fairly recent college grad (2 years ago) who recently came across her resumes developed in class and inwardly groaned:

Hobbies on a resume looks like a college kid trying to fill up space. I have seen many resumes and CV's from people established in their field and never once seen one with a “Hobbies” section. Yeah, hobbies help round you out as a person, but they also flag you as a college kid. I'd skip them.

Besides, as others have pointed out, some hobbies have negative connotations and there's no need to go there. How something is perceived can vary from one person to another, too. One person will see “Interior decorating” and think “Oh awesome, they can help spruce this place up!” Another will think “Oh crap, this person is way too artsy for accounting.” Same with anything else.

As for gaming, I think there's a lot of closet gamers in accounting. 😉 I might've spent several hours yesterday playing “The Secret World”, but nobody at work is hearing about that! haha.

[Anonymous]

I vote don't include hobbies. Personally, I would laugh at any resume that came across my desk with a hobbies section.

[Anonymous]

I put a hobbies section on my resume once, but that was back when I was 16 and trying to find a part time job. While hobbies might come up in a job interview, they should not go on a resume if you are a college graduate.

[ridiqls]

Hm I think it depends. Maybe instead of hobbies use the word “Interests” instead. If I was applying to a smaller firm I would think that they would want to know about me more than just my work experience. If I was interviewing people I'd want to know I'm not dealing with someone really boring or socially lacking. That being said, the interests you should omit are things that are controversial. I once had someone tell me that he thought I should remove “Martial arts” from my interests (I was 19 applying for an internship at a smaller firm) because some people may feel intimidated by it. I'm like right….

He seemed like a really insecure person but that is my point. You dont know who's going to interview you and dont want to take yourself out of the running by putting something that can be interpreted incorrectly.

[yay4bnl]

You know, I've really come to believe that there is absolutely NO perfect resume, because while some people will like one thing, some hate that very same thing.

Personally, I would think that it would cut down on your chances of getting an interview, but maybe the kind of firm that would actually read your personal interests/hobbies is exactly the kind of firm you'd want to work for.

FAR - 89
REG - 81
AUD - 88
BEC - 80 - Annnnnd SCENE.

[samdiegoCPA]

DEFINITELY put it!!

My friend works for Deloitte and helps with hiring (she's an attorney there but still does interviewing sometimes) and says must definitely put something like that. It helps you to stand out even just the tiniest percent. Also, we are all people, not robots, so having someone who can bring personality to a resume might land you a rad job.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Iggy1985]

I am kind of in the same boat that I feel ‘interests' aka hobbies shouldn't be on my resume, but both of my advisors have ties with Big4 and recommend it so I am on the fence on whether or not to just leave it out, considering my hobbies are not conventional! Thanks for the replies all!

FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
REG - (8/14/15)

[acamp]

To the good points above, mine were listed as “Interests: bla bla and bla” and were below the last section of my resume as a single line; so it wasn't a big bold section or anything. The intention is to give an interviewer the opportunity to steer the the interview towards easy talking points (remember, Big4 is all about fit and personality, the more chances you give them to enter into conversational topics the better, especially for an entry level position).

I had “home brewed espresso” as one of mine, unique, but not weird. It created curiosity, which lead to lighter conversation.

Self proclaimed: Highest ratio of Replies to Others v. Posts Created on A71

California CPA - Big4 Aud Manager Alum - Private Accounting at Startups

FAR, REG and BEC with Ninja Notes + WTB Only

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Iggy1985]

yeah, right now I have it as ‘interests' at the bottom, just not sure if my ‘interests' are worth putting or how I should word them I guess.. like should I bother putting ‘reading' when I've only read George R.R. Martin books in the past few years, when people wouldn't necessarily find them intellectual? lol – and probably shouldn't list that I spend most of my free time playing video games hahaha but I think it might be more interesting to say I'm interested in programming and developing software of some sort, even though it might be a little far fetched

FAR - 89 (8/19/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Books from School, Ninja Audio/Notes
AUD - 92 (10/14/14) Wiley TB, Wiley Book, Ninja Audio
BEC - 82 (5/8/15) Mostly Ninja MCQ, sprinkles of Becker lectures and Ninja Audio
REG - (8/14/15)

[tomq04]

Focus on tech, it's the major buzz word in today's job world. In public, perhaps not so much, but all industry jobs are after those skills.

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[zkaraca2012]

I interviewed a few interns for the big4 and hobbies, as long as there are 2-3 of them listed out, are always good as they give something to the interviewer to loosen up the candidate during the interview.

AUD 78 Lost Credit, retake after FAR rematch
BEC 83 (Expires 2015-02-28)
FAR 71 Failed (2014-09-09), retake in Q4'14
REG 80 (Expires 2015-11-30)

[Author]

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