Activities including clubs, membership organizations, hobbies, and interests that show leadership, technical skills, community involvement, or team-playing capabilities may enhance your candidacy with an admissions director or hiring manager. In such cases, it’s smart to use extracurricular activities to your advantage by including information that will highlight the important skills you have learned and applied.
Read more about resumes in our resume writing series:
- Overview
- Education
- Skills
- Work History
- Honors, Awards, and Accomplishments
- Avoiding the Top 10 Pitfalls of Resume Writing
Read below to see which activities will enhance your resume and which should not be included. Get additional help formatting this important section by using a professional resume writing service.
Activities to include:
- Leadership roles in clubs and organizations (i.e., Student Council or leader of a club)
- National society or organization membership (i.e., National Honor Society)
- Summer camps that stress academics, teach skills, or show team-building (i.e., Computer Camp, etc.)
- Activities with national organizations (i.e., Big Brother or a Big Sister)
- Participation in charity events (i.e., 10-K run for cancer research)
- Athletics or other competitive sport
Activities not to include:
- Controversial activities (i.e., Affiliation with political organizations)
- Dangerous activities (i.e., Extreme sports, skydiving, mountain climbing, motorcycling)
- Irrelevant activities or interests (i.e., Movie Club, shopping, Internet surfing)
- Unusual interests (i.e., Studying black magic)
- Anything potentially offensive or illegal (i.e., Alcohol consumption, drug use)
The key is to have a discerning eye. If the activity is not likely to improve your chances of getting into a school program or getting hired for a job, simply don’t include that information.
As you can see, your extracurricular activities, clubs, memberships, hobbies, interests, and activities can bolster your resume and help present you as a well-rounded candidate. However, this resume section needs to be carefully structured to avoid becoming harmful to your image. Try using a professional resume writing service to ensure that this information is utilized to your benefit.
