What to Include in Hobbies and Interests in My CV? Employment

Here at BBO, we understand how difficult it can be to write a CV and personal statement. In order to help with this in the past, we’ve published guides in our knowledge hub for both. However, one of the most commonly asked questions that we get, digs a little deeper into the content itself. Including some sort of explanation of your favourite hobbies and interests is pretty much commonplace in most CVs but people are often stuck wondering what to put down. In order to shed some light on this, we’ve put together the following guide.

Why Should I Include Hobbies and Interests in my CV?

If you’re not careful, your CV could easily blend into the pile. The key component in avoiding this is introducing personality. Employers hold personality in high regard when hiring and can often opt for candidates that may not be as skilled, but show a great attitude. Whilst you should be trying to convey your personality throughout the whole CV, having a hobbies and interests section is the only section that you can devote to this.

Hiring managers are nosy and something in this section could intrigue them enough to want to invite you for an interview. Your CV should entice them to want to interview you and whilst an impressive list of qualifications can certainly do this, hobbies and interests can really help you to stand out from the crowd. However, some recruitment agencies advise that you may not always want to include hobbies and interests. For example, CV Plaza recommends that whilst hobbies and interests can help school, college and university leavers, senior candidates may lose valuable space in other sections by prioritising hobbies and interests.

What Hobbies and Interests Should I Include?

Whilst there is no general rule of thumb for which hobbies should and shouldn’t be included in your CV, we can definitely give you some advice. According to the Collins English Dictionary, it’s an activity that you enjoy doing in your spare time.

Despite this definition, we would advise that some care should be taken to consider whether your hobbies and interests are appropriate for the application. If they are used in the reviewing process, they can make a difference if it’s tight between two candidates but only if they indicate some transferable skills. For example, showing that you love taking part in team sports shows that you enjoy working in a team and may bring good communication skills. Showing that you write or produce art in your spare time may be a great way of demonstrating your creativity for a more artistic role.

Where Should I Include Them In My CV?

According to leading recruitment agency Reed, it’s advised that you treat your hobbies and interests as the way to seal the deal. Therefore, they should come at the end of the application. Unless you lack significant experience, it’s unlikely that this section will provide your key selling point. Instead it is likely to be used to separate you from any competition with similar attributes.

For more information regarding what you can do with your CV, you can read our guides in the BBO knowledge hub. There, you can find plenty of articles full of tips such as ‘What should you include in a CV?’ and ‘How to write a CV with no work experience?’.

Get Help Writing Your CV

Here at Building Better Opportunities, we’re committed to offering free help and advice to those looking to find a job. Therefore, our team is happy to help with CVs, personal statements, employability skills, training and confidence building.

For more information on how we can help you in your search for a job, check out our Employment Support page. Alternatively, if you would like to speak to our advocates, you can give us a call or attend one of our work clubs across the region.