Listing hobbies on job application forms

[ducksinarow123]

What’s the point? Why do jobs applications application forms ask for you hobbies and interests outside work? They don’t add to my ability to do the job, plus it makes you feel like shit if you have few hobbies (full time job, house to run, kids to raise!) or awkward if you have really niche hobbies that you’d rather not declare for fear of being judged negatively. So pointless.
urgh, that’s my mini rant. What do you all put on that section?

oh:
yabu: it’s really important to show there’s more to life than work and let that personality shine through
yanbu: it’s pointless and intrusive and utterly irrelevant to the job application process

Hobbies and interests weren't anything we ever actually scored when I was on interview panels for my former employer, but as we were recruiting for posts in a rural area it did give us some idea about how good a fit someone might be. Generally we found that people without outdoor hobbies and a real desire to live in the countryside tended not to stay very long. After all, work is only part of your life and even if you really enjoy your professional role, if you don't enjoy life in the locality, can't pursue your hobbies easily and so on, you're not going to be happy and are likely to move on fairly quickly.
We'd always pick the best qualified/experienced person for the job, but in the event that there were two equally good candidates and one had clearly researched the local area and lifestyle but the other didn't seem to have, then the former might have the edge. However it could sometimes go the other way and we had the occasional candidate who seemed to only want the job because of the location and opportunities to pursue their hobbies, which was just as much of a red flag.
But mainly, as others have said, I used it as a way to get candidates talking about themselves and try to relax them bit.

Actually I knocked back a male graduate as his biggest achievement at uni was setting up a juggling club!

Your loss is Chipperfield’s gain.

I had a friend check my cv recently and she commented on the lack of hobbies. I did say napping, going to brunch and watching the real housewives of Beverley hills weren’t going to impress the interview panel 🤷‍♀️

I always had an immovable prejudice against men who described in a short paragraph their love of a named football team.

It's one thing to say you love playing football, but following a team is such a basic thing for a man to like - it gave off a whiff of being the office sports bore.

I tried not to discriminate but I can't say I ever shortlisted a man who named a team on his CV.

I think it's a case of, if you have a hobby which shows skills that could help towards your application, put it on. If not, then don't mention it and no harm done.

YADNBU. I think it’s normalish for younger people to add to their CV to show teamwork or to include as additional qualifications, when their CV is otherwise quite short. It’s not really a thing IME in anyone over the age of 25 though.

I would be a bit put off to see it included on a job application form tbh.

I'm an employer for a very practical/skills based roles, and this section of a CV is something I look at. I need to know people are physically fit and actually enjoy doing the kinds of things the job involves, as otherwise it's just not going to work out. Without giving too much info our work is based outdoors, so I need to know they're going to be comfortable in that environment.

That said its not the most important thing and I only really pay attention to it if I need to narrow down applicants. For example if I'm having trouble deciding out of two who to invite to interview, the 'keen hiker' is going to be a tiny step ahead of the 'film buff'. I realise that seems incredibly superficial but sometimes we have to be a bit cut throat in order to narrow down the applications.

YANBU I hate it!

My friend's son was applying for jobs several years ago after leaving college, and he likes video games, sci-fi, and cinema and theatre. He was told by a family friend who works in HR for a big company, that he 'can't' put those hobbies and he needs to put football, and golf, and 'the gym' as hobbies and interests. 🙄

Why the F should he put what people allegedly want to see? He has zero interest in these things, so why pretend he does?! How stupid! He will be starting the place with lies, and as a person he isn't.

Yeah, we had a similar ‘family friend in HR’ who was also completely wrong.

Thank you. I thought it was ludicrous too. So did my friend.

Her son put his proper/normal hobbies by the way, and managed to get a job, in a field he wanted it too!

It's one thing to say you love playing football, but following a team is such a basic thing for a man to like - it gave off a whiff of being the office sports bore.

Oh, how i wish they existed in the singular... <smiles sweetly at new colleagues>

If I'm ever asked for my hobbies I always channel my inner Monty Python and answer 'Golf, masturbation and strangling wild animals'.

He may have let himself down there, golf is not that popular around here.