Hobby Hater

Every time I must answer the question “what are your hobbies?” I shut down. I don’t know what my hobbies are. Truly. Sure, I work out here and there, and sure I read a book maybe every month, and yeah, maybe I journal when I feel like it, but I wouldn’t count these as hobbies. They aren’t done religiously, every day. I don’t knit. I don’t make scrapbooks. I don’t powerlift. I’m not in a book club or actively learning another language. But I do a lot within my day. I am in a sorority, I am a full-time student, I am a part of clubs, and I work. So why do employers find the need to judge me based on my free time? MY free time, the one time I get to decide what I want to do and how to relax. 

I decided to Google “Why do employers ask for your hobbies?” The first thing I saw was from Indeed. Indeed is a website that posts job opportunities and helps employers find potential employees. Indeed told me that it is because it shows that you are a well-rounded person. I want to preface that as I am writing this very strongly opinionated piece, my anger levels are rising, especially since companies already ask so much from us, including club activities we are a part of, how we do in school, and if we can excel in grades. I discussed my opinion of hobbies to my mother, who looked at me with slight concern. She told me that employers just want to see what the potential employee is passionate about. I don’t agree. I am passionate about a lot of different things, such as free speech, food security, humanitarian practices, and basic human rights for all. But I wouldn’t say that my occasional running lines up with those values. 

I wanted to see if this was an opinion only I held, or if others agreed. I asked people via Google Form a few questions. First, I asked what your hobbies are, followed by how that question makes you feel. The list of hobbies I got were what I expected; drawing, listening to music, singing, reading, fashion, hanging out with friends, calling family members, working out, social media, doing puzzles, traveling, and cooking. It was how they felt about the question I didn’t expect. A bad trait I have is thinking that a lot of opinions I hold are held by others as well. Some aren’t, and this is a prime example. Many people responded that this question makes them feel good. They can reflect upon themselves and remind them of hobbies that they might have forgotten about. One said, “Whenever I am asked this question it always makes me reflect and find ways that I can include more hobbies into my life and limit the amount of time I am on social media.” Others, however, hold similar beliefs to me. Some said it makes them feel stressed, overwhelmed, and frantic to try and think of a hobby. One stated that hobbies make them “Stressed, because I haven't been able to find a consistent hobby I like because school and extracurriculars needed to get into higher education are so intense.” I agree. 

While this started as an opinion piece, it has almost turned into a reflection instead. Clearly some people find hobbies enjoyable and can think of them off the top of their head. They realize that while they can have school and extracurricular activities, they can also enjoy other things as well, and acknowledge that they are hobbies. I have not yet reached that point in my life. I still find it hard to allow employers to see the side of me that doesn’t work, the side that sits in a circle with my friends and talk about how Martha’s Vineyard is in fact not Martha Stewart's Vineyard, or when I occasionally journal my feelings into my notebook, or how I really just enjoy the movie theaters and eating buckets of popcorn. Those feel like the moments that are sacred and don’t need to be shared. I am passionate about them, of course, but they don’t add anything to my skills, so why do I need to share them? The only way I can wrap this piece up is by blatantly stating that I, Zoë Brown, am a hobby hater.