Interest Section and Extra Courses on Resume

Hey everyone,

Just a question about the interests section at the bottom of your resume. As I've seen myself in a few of my peers and definitely expect, many people put lists of interests that interviewers simply don't care about (golf, "finance" when your applying for a finance job, cooking, etc) with little to no validation. For mine, I've tried to stick with interests I could at least back up and are somewhat interesting (drumming for 10+ years, etc.). One of my interests is healthcare and medicine. Despite having a business background, I found a way to get into a course in university about medical sciences and found it fascinating. I've basically followed that up with taking several online courses on Coursera offered by medical schools (these are typically free unless you pay for a certificate) about epidemiology, cancer genetics, and other areas I am interested in.

My question is are these worth mentioning (on a single resume line against the bottom, definitely not including them under education or anything). I'm thinking instead of "interests include healthcare and medical sciences" saying "interests include healthcare and medical sciences (completed online courses from Harvard Medical School, Duke and other institutions)".

My issue is I don't want to come across looking like an idiot - I'm obviously not claiming to be a doctor, it's just a legitimate interest of mine, just as some people might say "travel" (hopefully if you can back it up with a legitimate story), art history, etc. Thoughts on the best way to do this?

2 Comments
 

I would advise you not to elaborate on your interest in healthcare and medical sciences. List them, and if the interviewer ask about them, then tell him/her more about how you took classes, etc.

Healthcare is irrelevant to finance, unless you are applying to an IB or private equity position that covers the healthcare industry.

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