What are some of your hobbies?

Employers must be careful not to cross the line into asking too specific questions about a person’s personal life. Professionally speaking, your personal life needn’t impact your working life.

However, in reality we all know that it does. For this reason, employers often look for indicators of stability and healthy hobbies in a person’s home life. The idea is that a person with a healthy and enjoyable life outside the office is likely to carry some of that positive energy into work with them. Workaholics and, at the other end of the spectrum, party animals, are not likely to be very friendly, emotionally stable people.

Without probing too far, some interviewers will ask questions such as “What are some of your hobbies.” Answers to this question can help reveal a little bit about the potential hire’s lifestyle and serve as good indicators of roughly how they will carry themselves day to day.