Many below gave various reasons about it being less than ideal to ask "personal" questions about hobbies etc, but I think I have had such question asked of me d

Many below gave various reasons about it being less than ideal to ask "personal" questions about hobbies etc, but I think I have had such question asked of me during every interview. It never was at the beginning, usually after we've done talking about technical stuff and before the money conversation. Personally I never had a problem with it and from the interviewer point of view it helps lighten the atmosphere a bit talking about out of work stuff.