The 5 Craziest Resume Interests I’ve Ever Seen – Investment Banking

January 05, 2025

The easiest way to win over an interviewer is to make the interests section of your resume one they’ll remember forever.

When recruiting my sophomore year, I was so confused as to why my upperclassmen mentor had “Extreme Snow Skiing” in his example resume.

It seemed super odd and stood out like a sore thumb when I reviewed it for the first time.

But he placed at Bank of America’s top group in NYC, which was arguably the best result anyone from our non-target school had achieved since our academy started a decade ago.

So – I knew there HAD to be a good reason for him including it and wanted to know why.

What I didn’t understand is that once you’re in the interview room, 99% of the process from there on out is a personality test.

Your resume credentials and baseline technical screen showed you have the work ethic and intelligence to pick up what they’ll be teaching you quickly, so now it’s about whether they’d enjoy spending 80+ hours / week working at the desk next to you.

I’ve helped hundreds of kids with their resumes during my time as President of our academy and these are five of the most attention-grabbing resume interests I’ve seen.

I’m going to explain why this section is overlooked then share the five keys needed to make yours memorable.

Table of Contents

  • The craziest five resume interests I’ve ever seen

  • Five keys to craft a memorable interests line

  • Examples to help spark ideas

Top Five Clever Interests I’ve Seen

*In no particular order

- Hot Dog Eating Contests

- Red Hair

- Rare Bobblehead Collecting

- Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizza

- Iron Man Triathlons

Five Keys to Craft a Memorable Interests Line

Key 1: Be Specific

If done right, your interests section should spark an interviewer’s curiosity and bait them into asking you to elaborate.

You’ll blend in with every other kid if you have generic interests like “Sports”, “Music”, “Food” or “Travel”.

To make those less boring, you can add specificity as shown in the examples below.

  • Sports → Iron Man Triathlons | Chicago Blackhawks Hockey | Fantasy Football | Extreme Powder Snow Skiing | Big Ten Football / Basketball

  • Music → Taylor Swift | Country Music Festivals | Playing Guitar | Music Production

  • Food → Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizza | Chipotle Guacamole | Baking Cookies | Hot Dog Eating Contests

  • Travel → Hiking National Parks | Colorado Skiing | Royal Caribbean Cruises | Northern Michigan Road Trips | Backpacking Southeast Asia

You can also use parentheses to add another layer of specificity if desired.

This YouTube video from Peak Frameworks has a few good examples of that.

Key 2: Mix Unique & Relatable

There are two reasons an interviewer will ask you about an interest.

  1. They have the same / similar interest and love to talk about that subject

  2. It’s so unique they can’t help but ask to hear your explanation

When I saw “Hot Dog Eating Contests” on a kid’s resume, I couldn’t wait another second to hear their explanation and had to ask about it right away.

I included one or two from the unique category and tried to make the rest specific versions of those broader interests lots of bankers would likely relate to (i.e. Sports, Music, Food, Travel).

For example, putting “Chicago Blackhawks” when you’re interviewing at a Chicago middle market bank full of kids who grew up in the Chicago suburbs could be a smart move.

Key 3: Have a Story

Interviewers will automatically remember you if you’re an amazing storyteller and jump in to tell them about a crazy experience when they ask about an interest.

For each of your interests, spend some time brainstorming a standout story you can tell if they bring up the subject.

For example, one of my interests was “Taco Bell”.

Multiple interviewers asked about this, and I’d always immediately dive into a passionate story about the “Taco Bell Burrito Challenge” my friends and I did in high school.

Most bankers were laughing by the end, and I guarantee it’s something they remembered me by.

Key 4: Be Honest

One time, I was interviewing a girl that had “How I Met Your Mother (TV Show)” listed as one of her top interests.

As a die-hard fan, I asked her a simple question: “Who’s your favorite character?”

She stuttered for a few seconds then gave the name of a character from a completely different TV show.

Point is, make sure the interest is fresh and be prepared to back it up.

Key 5: Diversity

Even if your whole personality revolves around sports, you’re bound to run into an interviewer that’s never watched a football game before.

You can have 75% be sports-related, since it should be a true reflection of what you’re interested in, but mix in a few from other categories to try and relate to a broader audience.

The ordering of these is important. Make sure to stagger the sports ones so you don’t have two in a row.

Real Examples

Cheers🥂

Jack