A Viral Résumé Rejection Reveals a Bigger Hiring Problem
What if the reason you never heard back from a hiring manager wasn’t your experience, your GPA, or your interview performance—but the hobby you listed at the bottom of your résumé?
That’s the premise behind a viral post on X that sparked widespread debate about bias in hiring.
“Cannot stress how much of an advantage it is to be a normal, well-adjusted applicant for banking roles. I reviewed a résumé that listed ‘olive oil’ as an interest,” the post read. “That is not an interest. It’s been hours, and I cannot stop thinking about it. There will not be an interview.”
The post racked up over 110,000 likes. Whether it was meant as a joke or not, hiring experts say the underlying dynamic is very real: personal interests can meaningfully influence hiring decisions.
Hiring Is More Subjective Than We Like to Admit
Lauren Rivera, a sociologist at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, has spent years studying elite hiring practices. Her research shows that extracurricular interests often function as social signals—and decision shortcuts.
In one audit study, Rivera and a co-researcher submitted fictional résumés from law students to elite firms across 14 U.S. cities. The applications were identical in qualifications but varied in subtle markers of gender and socioeconomic background. Hobbies such as sailing and polo were used to signal upper-class status.
The result? Men perceived as coming from privileged backgrounds received significantly more callbacks—even though their credentials were the same.
One lawyer reviewing a résumé commented that sailing would serve a candidate well because the firm had a “maritime orientation.” In other words, shared interests translated into perceived cultural fit.
That’s the key concept: cultural similarity. Rivera’s broader findings suggest that hiring managers often ask themselves, consciously or not: Do I see myself in this person?
Athletes gravitate toward other athletes. Theater enthusiasts favor theater participants. The “interests” section becomes less about personality and more about perceived belonging.
The “Rorschach Test” of Résumé Interests
Rivera describes hobbies on a résumé as Rorschach tests. One hiring manager might see “olive oil” as quirky and memorable. Another might interpret it as odd or unserious.
The problem is not the olive oil. The problem is projection.
For early-career candidates, this dynamic is especially tricky. Junior applicants often have limited professional experience, so they rely more heavily on extracurriculars and personal interests to fill out their résumés. In many campus recruiting pipelines, listing interests is standard practice.
Rivera doesn’t recommend removing the section entirely—particularly for entry-level candidates. Instead, she advises being intentional. If you’re unsure how an interest might land, sanity-check it with trusted peers before submitting your application.
Do Interests Actually Matter?
From a talent acquisition standpoint, opinions differ.
Bonnie Dilber, a senior talent acquisition manager at Zapier, views résumé interests as low-stakes information.
“They’re not a huge value add or differentiator,” she has said. In her view, interests belong at the bottom of the résumé—clearly secondary to experience, skills, and measurable results.
As for rejecting someone over “olive oil”? Dilber calls that one of the most absurd reasons she’s encountered. If a hiring team disqualifies candidates based on harmless personal interests, she argues, the candidate may have avoided a poor cultural fit.
What This Means for Job Seekers
Here are practical takeaways:
Keep interests concise and grounded. Avoid inside jokes or cryptic one-word entries. If you list something niche, consider adding brief context (e.g., “Mediterranean cooking and olive oil tasting” instead of just “olive oil”).
Place it at the bottom. Your qualifications, achievements, and competencies should dominate the page.
Understand signaling. Some interests implicitly communicate socioeconomic background, lifestyle, or values. Whether that’s fair or not, it’s real.
Don’t over-index on perfection. If a harmless hobby disqualifies you, the organization may not value individuality.
A Note to Hiring Managers
The larger issue isn’t olive oil—it’s unconscious bias.
If you encounter an unusual interest on a résumé, pause before reacting. Ask: Is this actually relevant to job performance? And more importantly: Can I work effectively with someone whose interests differ from mine?
The answer should be yes.
If it’s not, the work to be done isn’t on the candidate’s résumé—it’s inside the hiring process itself.