I've always been told to leave hobbies and interests off. The person reading your resume might have strong feelings about your chosen hobby as well -- the other way. It's no secret that cyclists in general are not universally loved by drivers. You could easily land in the "reject" pile because the guy reading them had a pissy commute that morning.

That said, I've read my fair share of resumes. The only weight or caring I assign to hobbies / interests is a negative one -- if you have so little to say that you need to list hobbies to fill in the space, that's not really a good sign.

Exactly. As an employer I read about 50 to 60 resumes/applications every time we have a position open. With that many applicants I just want to know your qualifications for the job functions. Hobbies and interests can come up in the interview process.

SB

After college, I rode my bike across the country. I included the trip on my resume, made it sound professional, and included points that indicated independence/leadership abilities. I proceeded to interview for multiple, professional, science-y jobs. In almost all of the interviews my trip was brought up - sometimes as the first questions. It is arguable as to whether it was useful in the resume process, but it definitely separated me from others during the interview process.

Just post on your resume that you're an "internet badass" and that you "dominate many forums" they'll hire you in a heartbeat. Businesses love computer savvy people.

"Dominate many forums"

hahahahaha!

although I agree that hobbies and such should be left off of resumes for most types of professional work, if you're applying for something even remotely cultural, it can be an asset.

150 people applied for a front counter job at a tattoo shop that I used to manage, and the one that eventually got hired got noticed because he was a member of an artist collective (read: warehouse full of broke kids). he had no experience in reception whatsoever, but we initally felt an affinity with his on-paper personality more than others simply because he too was part of the counter-cultural world.

my waitstaff resume has stuff about cycling and art and whatnot on it. but mostly it's qualifications.

i posted before how my bike helped me get my current job.

during my initial interview, i'd say i spent half the time talking about bikes with one of the supervisors i met with.

i ended up biking to the final interview and getting a little lost along the way. when i finally arrived, i apologized, and the interviewer asked me if i had biked there. we spent the next 15 minutes talking about biking and then she offered me the job.

When I was first applying to jobs out of college, company reps were telling me, nay demanding that I put in a hobbies/interests section. At least in the engineering field, looking like a human being and not a robot is an asset.