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Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

yeah, i'd skip over mentioning THOSE kinds of interests.

lennonist wrote:

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

yeah, i'd skip over mentioning THOSE kinds of interests.

Id have to disagree. You've got to keep the purpose of the "interests" section in mind, which is essentially to show the ad comm you are a living, breathing human being. I think you achieve that with your interests and Id say go for it.

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

I remember that Ann Perry from UChicago negatively talked about someone who talked about Michael Jackson's death in their personal statement (she talked about keeping your audience in mind), so at least for UChicago I wouldn't mention the celebrity gossip. The other stuff seems really interesting and you could include that provided you phrase it the right away (i.e. breaking news of all kinds- current events or something to that extent).

Good luck!

I came into this thread ready to endorse your idea OP, and then I read the particular interests you had in mind. I'd say leave them off.

Edit: Just so you don't think I'm picking on you, consider the following. I don't walk into biglaw interviews and talk about my love of poker.

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

if they sound silly or phony on a message board, imagine how they're going to sound to adcoms reading your resume.

lakerfanimal wrote:

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

I remember that Ann Perry from UChicago negatively talked about someone who talked about Michael Jackson's death in their personal statement (she talked about keeping your audience in mind), so at least for UChicago I wouldn't mention the celebrity gossip. The other stuff seems really interesting and you could include that provided you phrase it the right away (i.e. breaking news of all kinds- current events or something to that extent).

Good luck!

Haha I didn't say it earlier but one of my main interests is the Jackson family - glad to hear that useful tip! Will not include (not that I was going to). I wonder what they objected to in that statement - if it was done well, i think it could have been interesting (i.e. a study of media influence or his legal issues and what they meant). I'm afraid putting "current events" is too generic, but news of all kinds really is my main interest - both celebrity and "real news."

I know people are thinking that I'm insane, but as someone said, isn't the point of your interests section to make you look like a real human being? I thought being a little zany, but honest, was kind of good. I don't think 90s music trivia is any less of an interest than reading Stephen King novels, which is another of my interests. It may sound silly, but it's an honest reflection of who I am, and they don't want just legal things in an interest section - that's the point of it. I would think, as someone said above, your poker skills would be relevant on an interest section. Knowing what's going on is useful for many attorneys, someone has to be involved in the media world.

smscat wrote:Hi,

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to have an interests section. My interests are essentially celebrity gossip, news discussion boards, 90s music trivia, and breaking news of all kinds...all of which I feel sound silly or phony on a message board, but they are truly my hobbies. Is it bad to skip over it and look like you have no interests?

Thanks!

I think the general idea of an interests section is a complete waste of space. If any of your interests are worthy of mention, they'll have manifested themselves in some way that is worthy of including on a resume (if not as some form of employment or an area of study then, say, in the form of an award or other competition or as community service).

If I was a a member of an admissions committee, I'd find an applicants decision to use valuable resume space to make note of a hobby — that hasn't manifested itself in some other noteworthy way — highly questionable.

I'm including a section called "personal" at the bottom, where I take three lines to mention a community service gig, an interesting thing I did with my summer while in between jobs, and three of my interests - including a sport I play and a city I like. I consider this section to be well worth having, at least for me, because I don't think my PS is stellar at making me sound like an interesting, multi-dimensional person.

To me personally, your interests would be off-putting, and there may be people on the ad comm who are equally or more judgey. But they could also come off as humorous and humanizing, depending how they're done... I might suggest listing three or so interests and making the... vapid... sounding stuff into just one of those three. Surrounded by a variety of different interests it would take on a slightly ironic and potentially interesting hue.

JazzOne wrote:
Edit: Just so you don't think I'm picking on you, consider the following. I don't walk into biglaw interviews and talk about my love of poker.

Maybe the hiring partner is an aspiring poker pro.

I put my racing career on my resumes (well it was a professional activity as I taught and served in tech. positions) and it has always been a conversation starter at interviews. Every single one.

You just never know, whatever makes you interesting should probably find a place on your resume. But you must the the kind of person who is comfortable incorporating it as a part of you as a person. Otherwise you seem stretching. In my case, it is just right.

r6_philly wrote:

JazzOne wrote:
Edit: Just so you don't think I'm picking on you, consider the following. I don't walk into biglaw interviews and talk about my love of poker.

Maybe the hiring partner is an aspiring poker pro.

I put my racing career on my resumes (well it was a professional activity as I taught and served in tech. positions) and it has always been a conversation starter at interviews. Every single one.

You just never know, whatever makes you interesting should probably find a place on your resume. But you must the the kind of person who is comfortable incorporating it as a part of you as a person. Otherwise you seem stretching. In my case, it is just right.

I spent a year in Vegas playing blackjack and poker, and I've been playing online for quite a few years. I'm definitely comfortable with it. The problem is that online poker is probably illegal. I see far more downside that upside in focusing on my poker lessons in an interview. I have lots of other things on my resume that have no unseemly associations.

If you can spin "interests" into community service, activities, or extra-curriculars I think that's a tad stronger than just listing some interests, but I have no idea. I suppose that's not really spinning, that's just not needing a separate "interests" section. (sorry, I'm not editing self presently)

JazzOne wrote: I spent a year in Vegas playing blackjack and poker, and I've been playing online for quite a few years. I'm definitely comfortable with it. The problem is that online poker is probably illegal. I see far more downside that upside in focusing on my poker lessons in an interview. I have lots of other things on my resume that have no unseemly associations.

See I think it is very cool to be able to do that, and there are some qualities and skills involved in being able to do that. Some people will recognize it, some will not. Most people older than me have recognized that what I was able to do (and you were able to do) are real achievements regardless of whether it's their cup of tea. I would probably put it on mine (if I were you) but then I am a risk taker and a gambler!

Edit to add: I have years of community involvement and volunteering activities as well, so doesn't really look like I am forcing it in, and it's at the end under personal.

Yeah, if it's illegal, that's another issue. My problem is I don't have any activities - I'm not into sports or anything, and while my interests are current events, I'm too moderate and realistic to join the political groups on campus. So I work a lot and then enjoy my media hobbies (I'm a com/poli sci major).

smscat wrote:Yeah, if it's illegal, that's another issue. My problem is I don't have any activities - I'm not into sports or anything, and while my interests are current events, I'm too moderate and realistic to join the political groups on campus. So I work a lot and then enjoy my media hobbies (I'm a com/poli sci major).

See, this would be credible if it manifested itself in some tangible way. For instance, if you were regularly published in the op-ed of a newspaper, or if you were the editor of a school paper. But just saying "I like the news" isn't unique. Most successful people read the news.

JazzOne wrote:

smscat wrote:Yeah, if it's illegal, that's another issue. My problem is I don't have any activities - I'm not into sports or anything, and while my interests are current events, I'm too moderate and realistic to join the political groups on campus. So I work a lot and then enjoy my media hobbies (I'm a com/poli sci major).

See, this would be credible if it manifested itself in some tangible way. For instance, if you were regularly published in the op-ed of a newspaper, or if you were the editor of a school paper. But just saying "I like the news" isn't unique. Most successful people read the news.

+1. Don't put any of this on your resume.

...

OP, I'm starting to come around to your side. My interests are chess, pizza, and jazz. That's no sillier than what you're proposing. Still, I just think "celebrity news" will come off the wrong way. You want to frame yourself as a professional, above all. Maybe I'm biased because I am a little further along in the process than you are.

Thanks for the tips - I don't think I'll put them. I just take issue with celebrity news being considered all that bad - I mean, Michael Jackson had a lot of legal issues. He employed and his estate continues to employ hundreds of attorneys. Obviously, some people in the legal world need to know what's going on in that area. A lot of attorneys have to deal with the media, high profile clients, or just other related issues. I think it is relevant, but I don't think I'll take the risk.

I had the same question because my interests seem odd to some people, but I went ahead with it. I'll copy and paste it, might help for formatting. Hope this helps!

INTERESTS:

• MENSA Annual Gatherings (member of Southern Connecticut chapter since 2006)
• World of Warcraft roleplaying and guild administration (The Wolves of Theramore)
• Magic The Gathering Grand Prix Finalist (Boston 2009, Toronto 2006
• Top-Law-Schools.com volunteer poster (over 3000 posts)

capitalacq wrote:I had the same question because my interests seem odd to some people, but I went ahead with it. I'll copy and paste it, might help for formatting. Hope this helps!

INTERESTS:

• MENSA Annual Gatherings (member of Southern Connecticut chapter since 2006)
• World of Warcraft roleplaying and guild administration (The Wolves of Theramore)
• Magic The Gathering Grand Prix Finalist (Boston 2009, Toronto 2006
• Top-Law-Schools.com volunteer poster (over 3000 posts)

Man, it would be so awesome if I could admit I've played Neopets for 11 years and my accomplishments there, as well as the amount of posts I have on political forums, entertainment forums, Michael Jackson forums, a random Catholic forum even though I'm not a Catholic etc. But I enjoy being a volunteer poster on a lot of places just to help people out. I don't know if I 'd suggest putting that...but who knows?

smscat wrote:

capitalacq wrote:I had the same question because my interests seem odd to some people, but I went ahead with it. I'll copy and paste it, might help for formatting. Hope this helps!

INTERESTS:

• MENSA Annual Gatherings (member of Southern Connecticut chapter since 2006)
• World of Warcraft roleplaying and guild administration (The Wolves of Theramore)
• Magic The Gathering Grand Prix Finalist (Boston 2009, Toronto 2006
• Top-Law-Schools.com volunteer poster (over 3000 posts)

Man, it would be so awesome if I could admit I've played Neopets for 11 years and my accomplishments there, as well as the amount of posts I have on political forums, entertainment forums, Michael Jackson forums, a random Catholic forum even though I'm not a Catholic etc. But I enjoy being a volunteer poster on a lot of places just to help people out. I don't know if I 'd suggest putting that...but who knows?

i'm a volunteer poster on a lot of other sites. I only included TLS because it's related to law school and I think it shows initiative on my behalf and a willingness to help out my future classmates

capitalacq wrote:

smscat wrote:

capitalacq wrote:I had the same question because my interests seem odd to some people, but I went ahead with it. I'll copy and paste it, might help for formatting. Hope this helps!

INTERESTS:

• MENSA Annual Gatherings (member of Southern Connecticut chapter since 2006)
• World of Warcraft roleplaying and guild administration (The Wolves of Theramore)
• Magic The Gathering Grand Prix Finalist (Boston 2009, Toronto 2006
• Top-Law-Schools.com volunteer poster (over 3000 posts)

Man, it would be so awesome if I could admit I've played Neopets for 11 years and my accomplishments there, as well as the amount of posts I have on political forums, entertainment forums, Michael Jackson forums, a random Catholic forum even though I'm not a Catholic etc. But I enjoy being a volunteer poster on a lot of places just to help people out. I don't know if I 'd suggest putting that...but who knows?

i'm a volunteer poster on a lot of other sites. I only included TLS because it's related to law school and I think it shows initiative on my behalf and a willingness to help out my future classmates

Yeah...I read personal statements for a lot of people as a favor, and I do that on my own time a lot...I like to edit. But I think putting that I was an SAT tutor on my resume may be enough, especially since in my statement i mentioned how I love explaining things. I tried to write a statement on my forum use, but I felt it wouldn't go over well.

capitalacq wrote:I had the same question because my interests seem odd to some people, but I went ahead with it. I'll copy and paste it, might help for formatting. Hope this helps!

INTERESTS:

• MENSA Annual Gatherings (member of Southern Connecticut chapter since 2006)
• World of Warcraft roleplaying and guild administration (The Wolves of Theramore)
• Magic The Gathering Grand Prix Finalist (Boston 2009, Toronto 2006
• Top-Law-Schools.com volunteer poster (over 3000 posts)

You should also really include that you had way more posts than that before the most epic thread in the history of TLS was deleted.