Personal interests on resume/interview Forum

[KJG]

So I've heard that some people include their interests on a resume and I have had employers ask about them during an interview. I am debating between something I am passionate about and something more mainstream that interests me.

I have a great passion for insects and arachnids. I like animals in general but I really started getting into tarantulas a few years ago. Not the garden variety tarantulas but some of the most exotic species. At one time I had a large collection of them as well as some other critters and I decided to grow my own food. Cockroaches proved to be the best for my situation and I grew to love them. These aren't the disgusting things in your house. They are really different, at least for me. So I've bred, raised, and sold various cockroach, tarantula, and reptile species. I could tell you just about anything you wanted to know about tarantulas or roaches. Did you know that some roaches give live birth to over thirty young? Or that there is a roach that glows in the wild? Care to know the nutritional value of roaches compared to crickets? Handling the largest tarantula in the world? My wife has told me that this can be very off putting. What do you think?

My father and grandfather were stamp collectors. When he passed I inherited a sizable collection that goes well before 1900. Several feet high worth of stamps. They are interesting to me but I haven't begun my own additions and I could not really tell you too much about them. My wife suggested I go with this as it is a more common and understandable hobby but I am not sure.

Opinions?

[lolwat]

Neither. You don't know enough about stamps to talk about if one of your interviewer also happens to be a big stamps person. Interests should be something you can be passionate about and talk someone's ears off with. Like that creepy paragraph about bugs in your post.

Clearly you're passionate about bugs, and normally that would count for something and be worth putting on your resume... something about it just doesn't feel right though. I might have it on there just so they could ask about it if they wanted to, but don't highlight the specifics too much. That way the interviewer can ask about if they see it and are interested, but if the interviewer is creeped out by bugs (e.g., me) they can stay away from it. It might still creep me out if I read it on the resume though

[Haribo]

I think if you called it "arachnology/entomology" you will be okay. Most people would probably assume you studied it in a more academic manner, so it wouldn't give them the creeps. If someone asked you about it, you would have time to judge what kind of person they are before you get into major levels of detail with them (because yes, it is kind of creepy.)

[Anonymous User]

Insects. Not stamps; you want to be able to talk about any of your "interests" with palpable enthusiasm, and you simply will not be able to. Don't constrain yourself to sort of traditional "hobbies." I had things like yoga, documentaries and musicals on mine and have been asked about all 3 of those.

Just recently took the Interests section off because my legal and work experience sections have gotten so long that I don't have room to spare. A mock interviewer last year said I should keep it on there (before I had all these legal internships and projects). Is it normal to take it off during or after 2L?

[Anonymous User]

Insects. Not stamps; you want to be able to talk about any of your "interests" with palpable enthusiasm, and you simply will not be able to. Don't constrain yourself to sort of traditional "hobbies." I had things like yoga, documentaries and musicals on mine and have been asked about all 3 of those.

Just recently took the Interests section off because my legal and work experience sections have gotten so long that I don't have room to spare. A mock interviewer last year said I should keep it on there (before I had all these legal internships and projects). Is it normal to take it off during or after 2L?

I graduated recently, and I've had a few people tell me that I can go 2 pages with my resume, but none of them have told me to take off the interests section (although some of these resume-reviews were during my third year). It's still on my resume right now.

I think whether you want to have it on there depends on whether you have room to spare and whether you think it helps. I would keep it on the resume throughout law school at minimum.

[tar2011]

i dont usually write on this blog, but i thoguht i should chime in on this one. you should DEFINITELY put your bug interest on your resume. DEFINITELY. it helps describe who you are, and a large part of the interview process is to help employers identify personable people with whom they will enjoy working. By showing you have a passion that is idiosyncratic and important to you will be a big advantage and give you something fun and memorable to talk about.

that said, i would follow another poster's advice and not simply list "bugs" under your interests. Maybe call it something else.

Then again.... i could be down with just calling it bugs. If the interviewer doesnt like it, they can shove a cockroach up their butt and you'll get a better job elsewhere

[ruski]

i would put an interests section, but would DEFINITELY not put either of those, at least not the bugs. the point of an interests section is not only to make you unique, but also serve as an ice breaker/conversation topic so ur interview is not just one boring conversation about law. u don't want to be unique to the point you are weird, which is why i would not put bugs. stamps is fine, but it wont really establish a connection. you want something you both can talk about, this is why sports is so popular. besides "how is your stamp collection" your interview will really have nothing to say about it as he probably wont be genuinely interested in it. think of something that would be appropriate cocktail conversation topics - i dont think bugs or your stamp collection qualifies.

try to think of things that are unique, but also ones that old white men can relate to, like golf, country clubs, polo, yachting, etc.

[cinephile]

I think your passion for insects is really interesting. Even though seeing them in person would creep me out, hearing someone else talk about them in a knowledgeable way would be cool.