Asked often?
There are a few things that you gladly show off as a hobby in your CV. An elite few, we can say! While the other of your favourite pastimes are reserved only for the closest of your friend circle.
(Image credits: Konstantin Dyadyun)
But there are some things that you love to do, yet your mind does not register them as a legitimate hobby. Didn’t get the gist of what I am referring too?
Allow your humble writer to elaborate on this point effectively with an already existing example.
Instance 1:
Think back and think deeply. What hobbies does your current CV emphasise on?
This is a cliché list that every candidate uses to ingratiate himself or herself with the HR personnel, as the best possible option complying perfectly with the given job description. Honestly, I have never been on the other side of the table and cannot say for sure whether it is read by the employer or not.
My guess is mostly NOT.
Instance 2:
Imagine yourself sitting around a new group of interesting people. You have been listening and observing them, grading them on their qualification as your hangout people. And when you become sure that – yes they are the kind of people you want to be around, you try to hook along with their trail of conversation. Inadvertently, you also try to hook on to their trust.
What do you do next? You begin aligning up your hobbies with them or telling how much you love to do some things. This is precisely the list of hobbies that you will reveal in your work area after settling in for a couple of months, that too only in front of a few people.
Surely they are not mentioned on your CV, as they might catch the attention of HR or employer by being way too different. However, with a group (or cult) it might work wonders.
(Image credits: Matheus Ferrero)
Varying upon whether you are just pretending to follow these hobbies for the sake of it or have a really high fevered passion for them, you get to keep your new friends for about 6 months to a very-very long time. Who knows? The good times can even last a lifetime.
Keep your fingers crossed, as with these set of hobbies (if lucky) you can even find a soulmate.
Instance 3:
Wait, this is the goldmine. This is where you really-really get honest with yourself. These are the everyday things that take up most of your time, shape you up unknowingly and direct your mind towards different things. Sadly, such hobbies are not acknowledged by the limited sensibilities of the society.
I bet, you wouldn’t even dream of putting them down in your curriculum vitae.
Endless phone browsing, watching videos on youtube, trying to shazam all hippy songs you hear, trying every restaurant you heard about, planning for trips that everyone on your Instagram follower list went to, trying to save money, trying to eat less junk food, trying makeup tips from the Pinterest or youtube, gossiping, trying to catch up with everything around you, talking behind the back, trying to get more followers on Linkedin etc. etc.
If you are contemplating arguing against labelling them as hobbies, I have googled a counter-argument too. Cambridge English Dictionary defines a hobby as – ‘an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure’. And these are some of the things that we harbour in our daily routine.
None of us would still enlist them in our profile or even in our minds, will we? Admitting them openly would not even get a person his/her second date. Strangely though, doing them together can.
It’s time we think more about where our hours are being spent! Agreed?