Hobbies and interests. These two words have been used almost interchangeably since time immemorial. From our childhood, most of us have been told. To develop a hobby, take an interest in other activities. Since then, we have had the same perception of these two words ingrained in our brains. But now, looking back upon it if we ponder, we can see that there is quite a subtle amount of difference between these two words. Just as a clue in a mystery game is not very apparent to the naked eye in the first attempt, similarly if we think deeply about these two words that have been used upon since childhood, we can make out the difference.
Listing your hobbies and interests on your resume means you are providing a separate doorway for the interviewer to have a look into your personality. Alignment of your interests with the job description of your target company helps you gain a positive remark in the minds of the potential recruiter. So, having a clear understanding of the terms hobbies and interests is a must when building up your resume and customizing it according to the company’s needs and demands.
Hobbies
A hobby is anything that you like to do in your free time. Anything that you love to do when you have a huge amount of free time on your hands, and you want to pass that time in a state of happiness. Anything that puts you in a state of happiness, just by the mere thought of thinking about it.
Any activity for which you garnered interest as a child and have continued pursuing you till now and still like doing it. For many people, regularly indulging in their hobbies also acts as a stress reliever, mood rejuvenator, tension releaser and many more. Hobbies can also be considered as therapeutic for a troubled brain.
It is never too late to develop a new hobby. As is a widely known saying that “It takes only 21 days to develop a new hobby”, so just dedicated efforts for 21 days and voila! You have a new hobby. And when else will you get more time than this ever-lasting lockdown? It is the time to upgrade your hobby level and compete with all your cousins in this unspoken-but-we-all-know-it-is-going-on “quarantine WhatsApp status race!”
Examples of Hobbies
Anything out of random can be a person’s hobby.
- Dancing
- Singing
- Drawing
- Listening to music
- Painting
- Reading
These are some of the very common examples. Some unconventional, out-of-the-box examples of hobbies include:
- Climbing
- Collection of some historical artefacts
- Creating some designs and models
- Travelling
- Woodworking
- Writing
- Cooking
- Exercise
- Community service
and the list goes on…….
Interests
Well, an interest though comes along the same lines as that of hobbies, these generally are spur of the moment things. Like, For example, while watching a magic show, you may develop curiosity regarding how a magic trick is performed, and so you develop an interest in the field of magic. So, interests can develop anytime, anywhere!
As swiftly as interest develops, it can also go away as quickly. Interest generally develops out of curiosity. A fascination towards a particular field, a thing or someone is an indication of interest towards that particular entity. And when that bucket of curiosity (or, an ocean, depends on you) is filled, interests change, and you embark on the journey to satisfy your curiosity level for the next interest. We can say that all hobbies are interests, but not all interests are hobbies!
Examples of Interests
On the other hand, interest in a particular field may motivate the person to gather some more information regarding it, thereby enhancing the knowledge base on that subject matter to satisfy the curiosity. Still, the person himself may not do it. For instance, a person may not be a cricketer, he may not even play the sport himself, but can have immense interest in the field of cricket and be updated about all the past and current happenings in the cricket world!
Or for example, a person may be interested in river rafting, but he hasn’t even done it once! This will also count as interest. Interests need not be actively pursued, something that spikes up your curiosity level does the work. Some active searching for any topic that strikes your mind also counts as an interest. So the possibilities are endless.
Some more areas of interests are:
- Historical readings regarding a particular time frame
- Politics
- Sports
- Research work
- Foreign cultures and practices
- Different languages
- Nature
- Art
And many more. Like many fields, so many interest areas may arise.
Difference between Hobbies and Interests
As it is pretty clear, that both these terms though are quite similar, still have some variability among them. So, some of the underlying differences between both of the words are as follows:
- All hobbies are interests, but not all interests are hobbies.
- Hobbies are generally done for relaxation and enjoyment, while interests are pursued out of curiosity.
- Hobbies generally do not provide monetary gains, but interests, on the other hand, can be a source of income for anyone.
- Hobbies are indulged in, when someone wants to relax or when no work is done. On the other hand, interests can be a part of your work if it is also the source of your income.
- Hobbies generally include some activity while interests are the urge to learn something more on a topic.
- Hobbies are somethings that stay with us for a long period, whereas interests may come and go and new interests develop rapidly.
- Hobbies require a certain degree of dedication, to be pursued for a long period. Interests evoke a much lesser degree of dedication.
- A hobby is pursued pretty actively as compared to interests.
Interests and hobbies may be near-synonyms to one another, but if looked upon closely, there are some striking differences. If your interests and hobbies indicate you as a team player or bring out the positive aspects of your personality, it is an added advantage to your resume as well. Differences or not, both are pursued if there is a perfect click between your personality and the activity/topic. Keep pursuing what makes you happy and all your extra time will seem like a fun time too. Keep enhancing your hobbies and cover a wide range of interest topics!.
