Hobbies and Interests on a CV: What to Include and Skip

A hobbies and interests section is optional on a UK CV, and most of the time it adds nothing. In a few situations it earns its place by giving a reader something to ask about that your job titles cannot. This guide covers when to include it, how to choose and word your entries, and what to leave out.

Should You Put Hobbies and Interests on a CV?

Only if the section tells the reader something the rest of your CV does not. If your experience already fills two pages, or your list would read "reading, travelling, cinema", the space is better spent on a stronger experience bullet or a skill. A generic list rarely does harm, but it does not help either, and it takes room from lines that could.

The answer changes in a few cases. Early in your career, when you have little paid experience, an activity can show responsibility or initiative that your work history cannot yet show. If you are changing field, an interest can point towards the direction you are moving in. And when an activity is directly relevant to the role, running a coding club for a developer job, say, it backs up a claim you make elsewhere on the CV.

How Many Interests to List, and How to Word Them

Two to four is plenty, on one or two lines at the bottom of the CV. Say what you actually do, because specifics give an interviewer something to ask about and adjectives give them nothing. "Sport" invites no question. "Volunteer coach for an under-12 football team" invites several, and it suggests reliability and patience without you having to claim either.

A useful test is whether you could talk about each entry for two minutes if asked. If you could not, cut it.

Generic Versus Specific: Examples

These illustrate the difference, so replace them with what you really do:

• "Running" becomes "Training for my second half marathon, with a weekly session at a local club".
• "Travelling" becomes "Travelled independently through South-East Asia, planning routes and budget myself".
• "Music" becomes "Play bass in a four-piece band and organise its gigs".
• "Cooking" becomes "Run a monthly supper club for ten people".

Matching Your Interests to the Job

Read the job advert for the qualities it asks for, such as teamwork, organisation, resilience or community involvement. Where one of your real interests shows that quality through what you do, include it, and let the detail carry the point instead of naming the quality. The link has to be honest: an interest stretched to fit a requirement is easy to see through in an interview.

Two things belong elsewhere. Languages go in your skills section, and volunteering with real responsibility can sit under experience, where it is more visible. Our guide to the skills section of your CV covers the first.

What to Leave Out

• Anything generic that any candidate could write.
• Anything you would not want to discuss in an interview. Political or religious activity usually falls here, unless it is the point of the job, as at a charity or a campaign group.
• Anything invented or exaggerated. It is one of the easiest lines on a CV to be asked about.

Where the Section Goes on the Page

Last, after experience, education and skills, under a plain heading such as "Interests". If space is tight, it is the first thing to cut. A short heading and one or two lines also keep the section easy for both people and ATS software to read.

Related Guides

For the rest of the page, see How to Write the Skills Section of Your CV, How to Structure a CV and How to Write a CV in the UK.