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Discussion on: What are your tips for an effective developer resumé?

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Vincent A. Cicirello • Edited

If including a hobby would cause resume to need an extra page, don't include it. If there is something more relevant that fits, then go with the more relevant thing instead obviously.

However, one line with a hobby or two at the very end has been useful to me personally long ago in the past on two occasions. The first was in 1995 while as an undergrad. I listed bowling. It was while interviewing for co-op positions (Drexel University where I went has a required co-op program). After talking about relevant stuff, the interviewer (president of company) mentioned bowling and we just talked informally a bit. I was offered the position, along with 14 others, and I went with this one over the others at least partially due to the friendliness of interview.

Two weeks into the job, the company organized a bowling outing. I don't think it was coincidental as multiple people already knew I bowled who I hadn't directly told.

The second useful time was in 2005 while interviewing for faculty positions. Faculty CVs are much longer than a typical resume---they have stuff like publication lists, grants, course development, etc (anywhere from 10 to 50 pages depending on experience). Near bottom of last page of around 20 or so pages I still listed bowling even though I hadn't been in leagues for a few years. After a long interview day, giving presentations and various meetings, during dinner with search committee, one committee member commented on that which lead to less formal discussion which was a welcome change of pace after 8 hours of interviewing. This is where I still work today 17 years later.

A hobby on your resume isn't going to get you an interview. But it might lead to a higher quality interview, whether it be an interviewer using it as an icebreaker to put you at ease, or in both of these examples an interviewer using it later in the interview. Hobbies are usually off-limits to interviewers (e.g., it's in a list of things we're not allowed to ask about during interviews at my institution). By including on resume, you give interviewer something they can potentially use to improve your interview experience that they otherwise can't bring up.

So if you have a spare line available at very end, it is fine to include a hobby. Just make sure all of the important job related stuff is more prominent, and don't sacrifice anything relevant to the job to make space for it.