Talking about yourself can be tricky — especially when trying to consider what someone actually wants to hear. Writing a CV and telling someone about your work experience can be hard enough — but what do you say about your pastimes? Writing about your hobbies and interests for a CV may seem difficult but it’s easier than you think.
Explore how to include hobbies and interests on a CV with this guide from Adobe Express.
What are hobbies and interests?
Before you can begin to talk about your hobbies and interests, it’s worth defining what they are. Hobbies and interests are something you do in your spare time for fun — this could include everything from sports and art to blogging and music. In some instances, you may even use your hobbies and interests as an additional income stream.
Examples of hobbies and interests on a CV.
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Should you include hobbies and interests on a CV?
You may want to include your hobbies and interests on a CV. In fact, it can be a great way to tell your employer more about you – and maybe show some additional skills. This can be especially useful if you’re writing a CV with little or no work experience.
While anything can fall into the category of a hobby or an interest, you may need to consider how you talk about them. After all, watching TV may be a pastime but would you call it a hobby? And is there anything you could write that’s worth knowing about that?
This is a great opportunity to personalise your CV — not only to find common ground but also to show off relevant experience.
Picking your hobbies and interests to share on your CV carefully can help you stand out.
When should you not add hobbies and interests on your CV?
Here are some things to consider when you’re writing about your pastimes to help ensure they’ll land with your potential employer:
- Don’t mention irrelevant hobbies. Try to avoid hobbies that are irrelevant to the job you’re applying for. Determined to include a certain hobby? Word them in a way that seems relevant. If you need to completely change a hobby for it to feel relevant, you may want to leave it out.
- Don’t include hobbies if you run out of space. Cramming your hobbies and interests onto a CV that’s already overloaded only adds to the clutter. It can be a nice section to have but it’s not an expectation — especially if you have ample work experience. Don’t force this section in, especially if it’s to the detriment of other more significant aspects of your CV.
- Don’t meander. As with all things on your CV, try to keep things concise. Focusing on a few curated interests that best complement your desired job role is better than listing every hobby and interest you have. At best it can be overwhelming, and at worst, distracting.
Where to put them on your CV.
There are other things to consider if you want to include your hobbies and interests on a CV — namely, the order in which you place the section. Here’s a tip — it’s not at the start.
Your professional experience, skills and qualifications are the most important thing to get across. Talk about those before any mention of hobbies and interests. Ideally this would come towards the bottom of a CV as additional information.
Explore and edit these free CV samples below.
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Examples of hobbies and interests to put on your CV.
Not all hobbies and interests are made equal when it comes to your CV. But don’t be disheartened — it all depends on the role you’re going for. What you need to prioritise is relevancy: transferable skills and experiences that relate to your desired job role.
Here are some examples of hobbies and interests to put on your CV (and why they could be relevant):
- Sports. Having a sporty hobby can look good on most CVs — it is thought to demonstrate self-discipline and focus. In many instances, it can show you’re a team player too, which makes it good for most jobs.
- Writing and art. Creativity and commitment are both exceptional traits — especially if you’re working in a creative field. Something like writing could show great communication skills and an attention to detail, essentials in many roles.
- Languages. Learning a language in your spare time isn’t only a useful skill, it also demonstrates the ability to focus and learn. Being proficient in a language could be seen as a useful tool in most jobs.
- Music. Music takes dedication — that alone can strike a chord with employers. If you’re applying for a music-related (or generally creative) role then this is an incredible hobby to explore.
- Graphic design. Graphic design as a pastime shows creativity and commitment. It demonstrates your ability to think up concepts, as well as your practical skills. From office jobs to graphic design roles or even events management — it’s a practical skill to demonstrate, especially if you’ve ever worked to a brief.
- Social media. There are often opportunities to leverage social media — especially in smaller companies. Whether your desired role is in social media or not, it shows an ability to curate and dedicate yourself to growing something. It’s a useful skill that could open new doors and even help startups.
- Reading. Reading could help you find common ground with your employer. If you’re going into a specific field — such as cooking — you could give detail about the types of books you’ve read. For example, perhaps you enjoy books on travel or cuisine because it inspires you to think more about other cultures, which you incorporate into your work.
- Hiking. Grit. Determination. Success. Hiking is a catch-all hobby that speaks to your character. You can mention your organisational skills or your ability to orient alone as well as some of the physically taxing elements of your journey.
- Arts and crafts. Arts and crafts not only take focus and commitment but creativity as well. It also means you’re handy. All of these are useful skills in most fields of work — whether that’s a complex problem that needs creative solutions or a helping hand getting things together for the spring party.
- Team-based gaming. Like TV, gaming can sometimes be looked down upon. However, in the right field (with the right people) team-based gaming can show the ability to communicate and work as a group in a stressful environment — similar to sports.
- DIY. Hobbies that centre on DIY are not only creative but practical. They can give the sense that you’re a problem solver — especially if you’re self-taught. Shout out about your projects, even if you’re doing a desk job, as the skills learned are seen to be highly transferable.