HOW TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION WHEN TALKING ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS
When an interviewer asks you about your hobbies and interests, they’re looking to see if you’ll fit into their current team. Some companies do monthly team outings which could tie into your interests so it’s important to them that they have an understanding of your personality. Asking what are your hobbies and interests are usually a way of learning more about you as a person than as an employee.
However, if you like to paint micro sculptures in your free time, it might show a company that you have good attention to detail and high levels of accuracy.
What are your hobbies?
When talking about your hobbies, it’s best to keep them positive and relatable but still show your personality. When asked ‘what are your hobbies and interests’, interviewer(s) are looking to see a glipse of who you are outside of work and any additional skills that you might bring to the role. You could stick to generic answers here like going to the gym, walking or cooking which is fine, these are relatable and common hobbies which many people have.
However, to set yourself apart and show off some skills you have, you could say that you enjoy making and selling handmade cards on your Etsy shop or that you play strategy-based computer games to keep your mind challenged. Hobbies and interests don’t have to be generic so show more of who you are, if you feel comfortable to do so.
What was the last book you read for fun?
The likely hood is that the last book you read wasn’t how to be the best employee you can be.
If you’re not a massive fan of reading, this question could be difficult for you. To prepare for this question, you might just want to think about a film that you’ve seen that was originally a book and talk about that. Just try to make it as relatable to the role or your interests as possible.
If you do read, try to pick something that says something about you. You could pick something that is relevant to the role or something that says a bit more about you. Whatever you pick, you need to ensure that you know enough about the book to ask any follow up questions they could ask.
What is your favourite website?
Think about your answer to this question carefully as this could say a lot about you. Are you a social person or do you find learning new things interesting? The website you choose could say a lot about you and give the interviewer(s) a good or bad impression, depending on the social attachments to your chosen site. You can relate the website to the role you’ve applied for, just make sure you have some knowledge of it as you might need to discuss it further or explain why.
Hopefully, these my hobbies and interests examples will help you answer these questions to the best of your ability. Just remember that these aren’t trick questions and they’re asking them to learn more about you and what you could bring to the company.
To read more on hobbies, click HERE.
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