By Our Special Correspondent
Every person has a certain favourite pastime or hobby in which he is deeply interested and through which he gets motivation. While mentioning your hobby, you should be frank and honest and should not mention exotic or unusual hobbies simply for the sake of making a favourable impression. Many candidates try to impress the interviewer and mention hobbies or pastimes which they do not pursue in real life. My advice is to be frank and tell your real hobby to the interviewer. Your hobby mat not be very intellectual or useful to your career, but do not hesitate to tell the truth otherwise you may be trapped in your own web of lies.
Some of the hobbies generally mentioned by candidates include:
· Reading newspapers: This is a good hobby but mention it only if you really read newspapers every day. Be prepared to answer questions connected with the editor of the newspaper, number of editions, number of languages in which a particular newspaper is published, the name of the publisher or the group. Also have a ready answer why you prefer a particular newspaper.
· Reading biographies: If you have read biographies of great personalities, you may mention this as your hobby. However, be ready for questions pertaining to biographies of eminent persons, their qualities, character, and why they were famous.
· Reading novels: This may not be regarded as a very intellectual hobby but if you have mentioned this, make sure that you remember the name of authors, title of the novels and their main characters. There may be questions pertaining to details of novels which you have read or those which appear on the best-seller lists.
· Reading books and collecting informative material: This is really a good hobby and if you have mentioned this, be prepared to answer questions about the type of books you read, their subject matter, their authors and even the publishers.
· Listening to good music: This is a very good hobby and pastime but you should not tell lies if you are not really interested in music. It may put you in a very miserable situation should the interviewer or any other member of the board really know about music.
· Cooking: This is a hobby you can safely mention as there is little danger of your being trapped in complicated questions related to cooking. Also remember, this hobby is not exclusively for females. Therefore, male candidates can also mention cooking as a hobby.
· Watching TV serials: Candidates often mention “watching TV serials” as their hobby. If you have mentioned this as your hobby, you have to ensure that you remember the names of popular TV serials, when they were telecast, how many episodes there were, their main characters, and on which day of the week and at what time were they telecast.
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