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>I've 2 reasons for why including them is a good idea.
>(or maybe bad... see below :-) )
>1. It reveals quite a bit about your basic personality:
> - If you list all solo activities, you may not be a "team" player...
> which may be what they are looking for.
A dangerous assumption to make, either way. Hobbies are supposed to be a
distraction from real life. For many people, their hobbies are quite
opposite from their regular work and activities. Someone who often works in
a "team" situation may enjoy such an environment for working in, but may
still want some time to himself now and then, and may thus turn to non-team
hobbies.
> - If you list only sedentary activiteis, you may be not
> "adventurous" enough.
See above.
> - If you list only high-risk activities, you may not stay around long.
> (either through getting killed, <g> or from a need for challenge)
Yes, I might worry about the attendance record of a potential employee who
is a professional stunt skydiver in his leisure time... :)
> - If you have achieved stature at an activity, you obviously can
> "stick" to a project and see it through.
Perhaps. Perhaps it only means you can "stick" to something you find
completely engrossing, which is not something many people can say about
their work...
>2. It gives an interviewer something to talk about, when they don't
> know how to break the ice... "so, I see you recently did a ski-tour
> of Bosnia; that must have been interesting..."
> "you're a fencer.. I used to fence for <school name here>."
> etc. etc. etc.
An excellent point.
Your friend and mine,
Matt
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