Should you include hobbies on your resume? Yes and no.

One way to infuse more personality and individualism into your resume is to add a hobbies section at the end. So, which hobbies should you disclose and which should you leave off?

If you’re applying for an IT position and building drones in your spare time, disclose that! However, mentioning that you spend your spare time binge-watching reality TV may not reflect well on you universally.

Sure, you’ll run into several hiring managers who are fans of the shows you love but you risk appearing lazy. Hobbies you might want to disclose when applying for an IT role are recreationally learning a few new coding languages, developing an app with your best friend, or building your own computer. While all productive hobbies are not necessarily tech related, the ones that will reflect best on your resume when applying for an IT position are technical ones.

If you think your hobby may be isolating or unrelated to your field, leave it off. Save them for small talk during the interview process or after you’ve been hired. Failing to list hobbies won’t disqualify your resume and listing ones that you think look good, that you don’t actually enjoy, serves no purpose.

So if you have applicable hobbies, disclose them! If not, don’t worry, no one’s forcing you to become a drone hobbyist. Just make sure the rest of your resume is polished, professional, and filled with your technical skills. Here’s an example if you need it.

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