Interests section on resume? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

in interviews for both my AUSA jobs I included interests and was asked about them. (For one interviewer it was clearly a thing that mattered to them because the other interviewers commented on them asking it of all candidates.)

That said, I agree they're probably not as significant for non-OCI/non-clerkship situations. As with all AUSA stuff it probably varies by office (both of mine want people to have lives outside of work).

[NoLongerALurker]

If I'm part of the craft beer society at my school (lol), is it okay to put as part of "activities"? I have more formal activities on there, but thought it might be unique and catch the interviewer's eye (hopefully not for the wrong reasons). Or should I just play it safe and leave it off?

Definitely put this on your resume.

Not sure if being sarcastic.

Edit: NVM, read some your other posts above. Thanks. I think I'll keep.

I had beer club on my resume and it ended up being the focus of my interviews and I got plenty of offers. Quirky things you like and that are more fun to talk about than law are exactly what you want to list, since you might end up just getting into a conversation about them.

[Barrred]

I'm also with rpupkin on this one. After verifying that you are smart (by looking at law school/gpa/clerkship) all I care about is whether I would want to work with you, and your interests section is the best indicator of that. Leaving it off is a huge mistake. My hiring experience is in the clerkship context, but I imagine that lawyers across legal employers, including bigfed, have similar priorities.

[Nebby]

I'm also with rpupkin on this one. After verifying that you are smart (by looking at law school/gpa/clerkship) all I care about is whether I would want to work with you, and your interests section is the best indicator of that. Leaving it off is a huge mistake. My hiring experience is in the clerkship context, but I imagine that lawyers across legal employers, including bigfed, have similar priorities.

What interest indicates a candidate will be most likely to microwave fish or loudly chomp cheetos at their desk?

[ilovesf]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

I disagree with this. Maybe in some circumstances but this certainly can't be said across the board. I have been asked about my interests at both nonprofit and gov interviews.

[blueapple]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

I disagree with this. Maybe in some circumstances but this certainly can't be said across the board. I have been asked about my interests at both nonprofit and gov interviews.

Me too

[Nebby]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

I disagree with this. Maybe in some circumstances but this certainly can't be said across the board. I have been asked about my interests at both nonprofit and gov interviews.

Me too

Like, y'all had interests on your resume and were asked about them or you did not have interests on your resume and were asked about them?

I've never been asked about them in interviews that did not have them on the resume.

[Mullens]

If I'm part of the craft beer society at my school (lol), is it okay to put as part of "activities"? I have more formal activities on there, but thought it might be unique and catch the interviewer's eye (hopefully not for the wrong reasons). Or should I just play it safe and leave it off?

The one thing I will add, is that you need to be able to demonstrate knowledge about your interests and be able to talk with people who are skeptical or has a distaste for it. For example, you should have a more detailed answer for "why do you like craft beer" than "it tastes good." You will be interviewing with dozens of people so there's a decent chance you run into someone who is super into craft beer and will want to get down into the nitty gritty details. There's an equally likely chance that you run into some boomer partner who thinks that all craft beer is un-American and people should only drink Bud Light. That's not to say you shouldn't put it on your resume, because you should, just be prepared for anywhere that your interest may take you in conversation. And that applies to any interest you put on your resume.

[A. Nony Mouse]

That's why you have them on the resume, Nebby (and I have had both situations arise).

[cavalier1138]

What interest indicates a candidate will be most likely to microwave fish or loudly chomp cheetos at their desk?

"Reading selections from Ayn Rand's work out loud to my cat"

[RaceJudicata]

I'm also with rpupkin on this one. After verifying that you are smart (by looking at law school/gpa/clerkship) all I care about is whether I would want to work with you, and your interests section is the best indicator of that. Leaving it off is a huge mistake. My hiring experience is in the clerkship context, but I imagine that lawyers across legal employers, including bigfed, have similar priorities.

What interest indicates a candidate will be most likely to microwave fish or loudly chomp cheetos cheez-its at their desk?

Fixed this.

[Anonymous User]

Here is my list: MMA enthusiast, Flag Football, Political Cartoons, Golf (beginner)

My questions:

1. Is including MMA enthusiast okay? Or does it seem too brutal of a sport to list?
2. I am unsure whether to include golf since I have only played a few times and am not very good. I consider it an interest because I started playing very recently and I fell in love with it. Although, its a sport I know I'll be playing from here on out and will be continuing to improve myself in.
3. I was also thinking of including Peaky Blinders. What do you guys think?

[ilovesf]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

I disagree with this. Maybe in some circumstances but this certainly can't be said across the board. I have been asked about my interests at both nonprofit and gov interviews.

Me too

Like, y'all had interests on your resume and were asked about them or you did not have interests on your resume and were asked about them?

I've never been asked about them in interviews that did not have them on the resume.

I have them on my resume.

[ilovesf]

I have also had something like "tell me something you like to do that isn't in your interests section/reflected on your resume"

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think MMA is fine, but does enthusiastic mean you watch or participate? Participating seems a little more worth including.

I think if you really are into golf it doesn't matter that it's a new hobby - you can explain exactly that and as long as that's genuine it would probably generate a good conversation (someone into golf might enjoy giving advice).

Peaky Blinders seems much too specific.

(As much as I hate vetting interests - they're either your interests or they're not. But basically think about what you could/should have a conversation with a partner about the topic.)

[elendinel]

Any thoughts about putting interests on AUSA resume? I've had a lot of success with them for clerkships but a former AUSA told me he would take them off and seemed perplexed by the thought of even having them.

Government doesn't give a shit about your interests. Interests are good in places that really only care about your grades and pedigree (biglaw/clerkship) and give the Associate/Partner the opportunity to make bullshit smalltalk to just make sure you're not a weirdo. In gov't & nonprofit, they will be much more substantive interviews where your passion for flyfishing likely won't ever be raised.

I disagree with this. Maybe in some circumstances but this certainly can't be said across the board. I have been asked about my interests at both nonprofit and gov interviews.

Me too

Me three (for internships and jobs).

FWIW when I interview I do ask about hobbies. Even if I share the hobby, I'll ask the person about it as if I don't understand it, to see if the candidate actually knows much about it and if they can explain to me what makes it cool/make me interested in it. For me it's a backdoor way of figuring out if a person is good at communicating an argument effectively and can remain polite and pleasant even if I have no appreciation for something of which they like/are proud. So I do think there's a value in discussing interests (even outside the fact that it's pretty much the only way for many employers to choose between candidates who meet all the other requirements and are expected not to have particularly interesting work experiences), and therefore there's a value in including them.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, a lot of the times I've been asked about them were by someone who clearly wanted to see if I could discuss coherently what I'd put on my resume. Others were genuinely about what I like to do outside of work, though.

[elendinel]

Here is my list: MMA enthusiast, Flag Football, Political Cartoons, Golf (beginner)

My questions:

1. Is including MMA enthusiast okay? Or does it seem too brutal of a sport to list?
2. I am unsure whether to include golf since I have only played a few times and am not very good. I consider it an interest because I started playing very recently and I fell in love with it. Although, its a sport I know I'll be playing from here on out and will be continuing to improve myself in.
3. I was also thinking of including Peaky Blinders. What do you guys think?

This is just my personal opinion, but if there are interests that you think help show your temperament (i.e., that show that you're a go-getter, or that you have strong ethos, etc.) or are related to your work goals/interests in some way (i.e., that show independent interest in something about your area of law that may not be evident from your internships or work experience), those are generally fine. A particular show is probably too specific and doesn't necessarily tell the employer anything about you as an employee. Anything that could easily lead to a potentially awkward conversation (like political cartoons) should probably get removed. Etc.

[BVest]

2. I am unsure whether to include golf since I have only played a few times and am not very good. I consider it an interest because I started playing very recently and I fell in love with it. Although, its a sport I know I'll be playing from here on out and will be continuing to improve myself in.

I think this is fine. Personally I have tennis but also include a parenthetical as to my novice skill set, lest any experienced/skilled player think they're getting a good playing partner out of the deal.

[lolwat]

Damn, that must be why I stopped getting interviews.
(Seriously. I just realized that practically all the offers I got came from interviews where my interests were at least mentioned if not discussed.)
In the spirit of keeping my resume on 1 page, though, should I try to lump in interests with another section, like, languages?

[Nebby]

I don't think I was as clear as I should have been. My point is that for nonprofit/govt, you don't need interests on your resume. For firms/clerkships, you do.

[Nebby]

I'll ask the person about it as if I don't understand it, to see if the candidate actually knows much about it and if they can explain to me what makes it cool/make me interested in it. For me it's a backdoor way of figuring out if a person is good at communicating an argument effectively and can remain polite and pleasant even if I have no appreciation for something of which they like/are proud.

This is actually a perspective I've never thought about and I think I might try the same thing when I interview candidates with interests on their resume.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I'm not sure whether "need" is correct for either but "can be helpful" sounds right to me.

[Nebby]

Here is my list: MMA enthusiast, Flag Football, Political Cartoons, Golf (beginner)

My questions:

1. Is including MMA enthusiast okay? Or does it seem too brutal of a sport to list?
2. I am unsure whether to include golf since I have only played a few times and am not very good. I consider it an interest because I started playing very recently and I fell in love with it. Although, its a sport I know I'll be playing from here on out and will be continuing to improve myself in.
3. I was also thinking of including Peaky Blinders. What do you guys think?

I generally feel like you should remove anything that is "noun"-enthusiast

[runinthefront]

Here is my list: MMA enthusiast, Flag Football, Political Cartoons, Golf (beginner)

My questions:

1. Is including MMA enthusiast okay? Or does it seem too brutal of a sport to list?
2. I am unsure whether to include golf since I have only played a few times and am not very good. I consider it an interest because I started playing very recently and I fell in love with it. Although, its a sport I know I'll be playing from here on out and will be continuing to improve myself in.
3. I was also thinking of including Peaky Blinders. What do you guys think?

I don't have any other advice, but I do think you should simply list "mixed martial arts" as an interest as opposed to "MMA enthusiast" or "MMA"