What do you like to do for fun? 7 sample interview answers (2024)

At the end of the day, hiring managers are only people. They also have their strengths and weaknesses, feelings and emotions. Personal preferences always play some role in the interviews, and we rather vouch for people we have something in common with. Be it an opinion about an important issue, attitude to work and life, or a mutual hobby, something we are both passionate about and can talk about in work.

That is one of the reasons why they ask you this question in an interview. To find out if they will enjoy talking to you, sharing the office with you, and perhaps if you can have some mutual activities outside of work. Such activities help with the relationships building in the workplace. But it’s not the only reason why they ask you about things you do for fun.

What we enjoy doing outside of work tells a lot about us, our character and level of ambition. Someone who falls to the couch and turns on TV, watching yet another mainstream Netflix movie, won’t typically bring some special energy or innovation to the workplace.

And someone who enjoys getting wasted each Friday (and each Saturday), living only for the weekends, is never really that colleague with an extra motivation, who drives others to try their best, and who may take the team, department, or the entire company to the next level.

So what are some good hobbies to mention? And what things should you avoid saying? Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to this interesting question. My list includes both typical and unconventional choices, and I hope you will find in it at least one answer that resonates with you.

* Do not forget to check also: Answers to 15 most common interview questions.

7 sample answers to “What do you like to do for fun?” interview question

1. I enjoy endurance sports a lot, especially cycling and running. The feelings after a good physical effort, for example when you reach a peak of a mountain, are just indescribable. It also helps me to compensate for the long hours I spend sitting in front of a computer screen. What’s more, it’s a good prevention from the diseases of civilization as they call them. This is what I like to do for fun, and I do it regularly, almost every day after work.
2. My favorite activity is playing with my children. Relationships are very important to me, and I try to find a good life-work balance. It’s a lot of fun playing with the children, and it also helps me to turn off, to forget all my duties and work for a while, and stay in a present moment, just having fun, laughing, sharing the moment with people I love. For me playing with children is a form of mental hygiene, if you know what I mean.
3. To be honest, I rarely have fun in my life outside of work. It’s not easy taking care of your mother and at the same time of your children. Once my shift ends in the job another one starts at home, and it almost feels like I am always working. That’s exactly the reason why I want to work in a place like this, a casual restaurant. I know that you work hard here, but at the same time you can have a chat with the guests, you do not have to stick to a particular dress code or be super-serious in what you do or say. Watching the staff here, I can sense that they have fun working together. It attracts me a lot to this place.
4. I love reading books–all sorts of them. And since I can find humor in even the most serious pieces of writing, and enjoy getting immersed in the story I am reading, I find the activity really relaxing and fun. What’s more, I read mostly in French and Spanish, since I try to improve my language skills, and in this way I connect the useful with the pleasant. Learning never stops for me, so why not learn while having fun?

* May also interest you: What two things you do NOT enjoy doing?

5. I like to do a lot of things. Going to movies or to a theater, having a glass of wine with a group of friends, playing sports, listening to some good music, and many other things. To be honest, I like to have some variation in my life. And also if I do one activity only, for a long period of time, it loses a bit from its attraction. For example if I went for a run each day, I would hate the activity after a month. But when I run two or three times a week, I am looking forward to it, and enjoy it a lot every time. Speaking generally, I try to have an active lifestyle. I’m not that type of a person who’d sit home after work, wasting their time swiping pictures on Instagram or on Tinder.
6. Traveling is my greatest hobby. I try to go somewhere every other weekend. In our era of cheap flights, it’s really easy to discover new places without spending a fortune. But for me it’s not about checking the top 10 things to do in this or that place by TripAdvisor. I enjoy wandering in the streets, meeting locals, absorbing the atmosphere of the city, trying local cuisine, and so on. This is something I really enjoy, and it also helps me to gain some perspective of life, to understand how lucky I am to have all these possibilities to work and to travel and to enjoy life. It gives you a sense of satisfaction and gratitude.
7. It may sound silly to you but I enjoy playing video games. I know I look to old for that, but for me it’s the best form of mental relax. You close the door, put on headphones, and for a time you live in a different reality, just enjoying the game. Of course it’s important to have some limits. I never spend more than two hours a day playing. And I understand that though life is a game, a game is not my life. Having said that, I also believe that my new colleagues will introduce me to some other leisure time activities, and that our relationship won’t be confined to the workplace.

If relationships matter to you, say so in an interview

Hiring managers realize that everything is easier when colleagues have good relationships with each other. When cooperation beats competition, the results will show immediately, and everyone will enjoy going to work more than before.

Hence you can use this question as an opportunity to stress the importance of relationships to you. Good example is answer no. 2 (talking about relationship with your children), but also answer no. 7, where the job candidate hopes that their colleagues will introduce them to some new hobbies.

Ensure the interviewers that you are not a lonely wolf, or a misanthrope. You like people, hope to get to know your colleagues, and have fun with them (if possible in work, and if not possible than outside of it).

* Special Tip: This question is quite easy, but you will face much more difficult questions while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity, and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package. Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

Mentioning different activities improves your chances of sharing some hobbies with the interviewers

Your interviewer (each member of the interviewing panel) also has some hobbies. They enjoy doing something for fun, and of course they enjoy talking about that activity with someone who shares the hobby with them.

Sometimes you can guess the activities they enjoy doing from their appearance. For example, if someone wears Garmin sports watch, the chances are high that they enjoy running or cycling. And if someone is obese and eats peanuts during the interview, they likely enjoy watching TV and eating (a popular activity of many Americans).

When you spot something and happen to enjoy doing the same thing (even occasionally), you should definitely mention it. But even if you do not spot anything obvious, you can improve your chances of connecting with the hiring managers by naming many hobbies. See sample answer no. 5 as a good example.

* May also help you succeed: How to dress for an interview – a simple guide on picking the best clothes for the important meeting with the employer.

TV, video games, or even occasional clubbing is fine, as long as you elaborate on your answer

Saying that you like to play video games for fun is not necessarily a bad answer, as long as you explain why you do it (to relax mentally, to forget your duties for a while), and ensure them that you do not play until midnight each day, and that the game is not your life. See sample answer no. 7 as a good example.

Even drinking alcohol for fun is not necessarily a bad answer. Look, most team building activities in the corporate sphere are about drinking. Sure, you may play bowling or darts or laser game with your colleagues. But you will have a couple of beers or shots during the activity, and many more afterwards…

Saying that you enjoy having a drink with your friends once or twice a week, without getting wasted, shows that you won’t be a bore in the office, and won’t avoid social activities and team building events with your colleagues. And that’s a good sign for all hiring managers, as long as drinking isn’t your only hobby :).

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:

• What do you like to do in your spare time?
• If you were an animal, what would you be?
• Why should we hire you?