The next time you get ghosted by a hiring manager, the rejection might not be because of your actual qualifications, but because of the fun hobby you listed on your résumé. At least, that is what one viral X post is claiming made the difference between a candidate moving forward or not.“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 with over 110,000 likes on X states. “That is not an interest. It’s been hours and I cannot stop thinking about it. There will not be an interview.”The viral post could be a joke; we can’t know for sure. The X poster did not respond to HuffPost’s questions. But this kind of snap judgment happens all the time, according to hiring experts. “From my research, [hiring managers] are 100% making judgments based off of the extracurricular activities or interests that are listed on the résumé,” said sociologist Lauren Rivera, a professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.In one of her audit studies, Rivera and her fellow researcher sent out fictional law students résumés to elite law firms in 14 U.S. cities. The résumés were identical except for markers of gender and class. Listed interests like sailing and polo were used to signal higher class, and these activities helped men in particular get ahead. Men perceived to be from socioeconomically privileged backgrounds got significantly more job callbacks than other applicants with the same qualifications. As one lawyer in the study who positively reviewed one résumé put it: “Although his law school and college are not the highest...My firm has a maritime orientation and sailing will also serve him well interpersonally here.”It’s an example of how certain hobbies outside of work can make all the difference, no matter how unfair that sounds. “So much of your fate in the hiring process is: ‘Do I see myself in this person?’” Rivera said about what her research has found. “Athletes wanted to hire other athletes. People who did theater wanted to hire other theater people.”And in this case, liking olive oil did not kick-start the hiring conversation this job seeker may have wanted. The olive oil post is “an example that these activities are Rorschach tests,” Rivera said. “You get one person who thinks it’s awesome, the other person posts on X and goes viral making fun of you.”Can Listing ‘Olive Oil’ As An Interest Make A Hiring Difference? It Depends.plan shooting2 / Imazins via Getty ImagesTo the right hiring manager, olive oil can be a zany interest to discuss in an interview, but not to this one. When you’re just starting your career, your résumé is scant, which is why many junior employees pad their application with interests in the first place. That’s why Rivera would not recommend leaving off interests when you are junior level because the personal interest section can help you stand out. “I would love to take these things completely out of the hiring process, but it’s not going to happen,” she said. During on-campus recruiting, it’s “an expected part of the template” for firm jobs, Rivera said. “People want to know what makes you interesting, distinctive.” But the olive oil example shows that you may want to poll your friends and ask them before listing an activity outside of extracurriculars like varsity sports.Ideally though, subjective interests should not make a significant difference with whether you get a job interview or not. Bonnie Dilber, a senior talent acquisition manager with app-automation company Zapier, said interests on résumé are not “a huge value add or differentiator.” If someone does want to include their interests, it should not be the first thing a hiring manager reads. “I think it should go at the very bottom because it’s one of the least relevant things,” Dilber said. For her, the olive oil interest “is one of the most ridiculous reasons I’ve ever seen for rejecting a candidate,” Dilber said. “If a hiring team is holding this against someone, I would say the candidate is dodging a bullet.” So if your passion for Mediterranean oils is holding you back from getting a job, that says more about that employer than it does about you. “If a company is that rigid and a manager jumps to conclusions based on something like someone having varied interests...then it’s likely not going to be a culture they’re going to do well in or where they’ll be valued,” Dilber said. If you’re a hiring manager who sees a résumé interest you don’t typically see, take a step back before judging the candidate based on that one answer.“Even if I don’t find it interesting, can I still work with someone who has different interests than me? And the answer should be yes,” Rivera said. “If the answer is no, we need to do some other work.”