Best Extracurricular Activities in a Resume With Examples, Tips, and Guide

You’re a whole person outside your job, and employers are increasingly interested in personality and extracurricular activities as they focus on culture fit and soft skills. But how can you include hobbies on your resume while still appearing professional? In this guide, you’ll learn how listing extracurricular activities can help, get tips for identifying the best extracurriculars to put on your resume, and see formatting examples.

Why Include Extracurricular Activities on Your Resume?

Showcase transferable skills

Listing extracurricular activities on your resume lets you show valuable skills, such as leadership and communication, that may not be as obvious in your professional experience. This can be especially helpful if you don’t have a lot of traditional work experience.

Provide insight into your personality and interests

Extracurriculars give hiring managers an idea of who you are outside the office and can indicate whether you’re a fit for the company’s culture and values. They can also show how you used an employment gap after a layoff to hone your skills or prioritize your mental health.

Stand out in a competitive job market

While your resume should always focus on your professional skills, many other candidates may have the same experience and background. Including extracurricular activities can help differentiate your application and make a more memorable impression on the hiring manager.

Types of Extracurricular Activities To Include on Your Resume

• Leadership roles: These activities show initiative and can demonstrate people management skills.
  • Examples: Student council president, club founder, team captain
• Volunteer work and community service: Non-paid roles can provide valuable work experience and show an employer that you’re invested in your community.
  • Examples: Volunteering at a local shelter or organizing charity events.
• Sports and athletics: Participating in sports demonstrates discipline, resilience, and your ability to work as part of a team. This can be a valuable inclusion to a resume, particularly if you took on a leadership role.
  • Examples: Team sports, marathon running, or coaching
• Academic clubs and societies: Being a part of an academic club or society indicates that you value education and are a curious, lifelong learner — all of which can make you a more well-rounded employee.
  • Examples: Debate team, science club, honor societies
• Arts and creative activities: If you’re applying for a role that requires creativity, showing your interest in the arts can help you stand out.
  • Examples: Theatre, music ensembles, photography clubs
• Professional organizations and competitions: Engaging in professional extracurricular activities show a potential employer that you’re already active in the industry and are working on developing your skills outside a formal role.
  • Examples: Business competitions, hackathons, student chapters of professional associations

How To Include Extracurriculars on Your Resume

Create a dedicated section

Separate your extracurricular activities into their own section. You can keep the general “Extracurricular Activities” title or make it more specific, such as “Leadership and Involvement.” List each activity as a separate entry and provide bullet points that summarize your impact and relate it back to the job.

Prioritize activities based on relevance

Select which activities to include based on their relevance to the role. Focus on options that involve the skills and experience you’ll need for the position or that are related to the industry. For example, if you’re applying for a medical internship, volunteer work as a candy striper would be good to include.

Resume Examples With Extracurricular Activities

These are good examples of extracurricular activity entries for a resume:

Here’s a resume example that includes extracurricular activities:

Tips for Highlighting Extracurricular Activities for Job Applications Effectively

Use action verbs to describe involvement

Treat the summary of your extracurricular activity the same as you would formal job duties. Start each bullet with a strong action verb, such as “collaborated,” “organized,” or “facilitated.”

Quantify achievements and impact

Include numbers and metrics when possible to highlight the impact of your involvement instead of just presenting a hobbies list. For example, if you were in charge of organizing a charity event, include how many people attended to give the hiring manager a sense of scale.

Align activities with job requirements

Focus on how the extracurricular activity either prepared you for the position or is in line with the company’s values. The extracurriculars list should complement your overall resume instead of just being a list of your nonprofessional interests.

Final Tips on How To Write Extracurricular Activities for Your Resume

• Connect activities to job skills: When possible, show how the activity helped you improve your job-relevant skills or prepared you for the role. For example, if you served as the captain of your intramural team, maybe you learned about group dynamics, which could be helpful in a management position. 
• Avoid overloading the resume with too many activities: To avoid cluttering up your resume or overshadowing your professional experience, stick to the top extracurricular activities for your resume and put the section toward the bottom.
• Don’t include irrelevant or outdated activities: Remember that the main goal of your resume is to help a hiring manager identify you as a good fit for the position. Relevant extracurriculars for a resume include those that involve the industry or role you’re applying for or are directly related to the job duties.
• Proofread for clarity and accuracy: When presenting your extracurricular activities, ensure that the bullets describing your role and impact are as clear and concise as possible. Treat this section with the same attention to detail as your work experience section. 
• Keep the resume updated: Review your resume frequently to ensure that only the most recent and relevant activities are included.
• Seek feedback: A second set of eyes and an objective perspective can ensure your resume accurately highlights your skills and experience.

Additional Resources

• Student Resume Examples and Templates for 2024
• Teen Resume Examples and Templates for 2024
• Tips on Writing the Education Section of Your Resume
• What Hobbies and Interests To Put on a Resume

Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.