Role of Interests and Hobbies in Your CV

Role of Interests and Hobbies in Your CV

One of the sections in your CV, which usually creates a lot of perplexity, is the interests and hobbies section, and most of the time candidates don’t pay attention to this section and mention some of the generic hobbies and interests in their CV. Now, you should keep in mind that sometimes little details regarding you can catch the eye of employers, and this section is helpful for the employers. This section throws light on your personality, values, likes and dislikes, etc. All of these elements speak about your character, so you should not neglect this section.

Although, this section usually comes at the end of a CV, yet this does not cut down its importance. The role that your interests and hobbies plays in your CV include:

• The interests you mention tell the employer about your objectives, personal skills, and your motivations. These convey your personality traits and a number of times employers look for specific personality traits. For instance, if you are applying for a managerial position but you have never headed a team earlier, then you can mention that you are the captain of a local football team or you operated training sessions, in your interests and hobbies section. This will demonstrate that you have leadership skills and know how to work in a team.
• You can also make your interests and hobbies relevant to the requirements of the position. For instance, if the position requires you to conduct research over the internet, then you can mention that you like surfing the interest and gather information on the top of the hobbies and interest section.
• If you participate in some community-related activity or social work then you should give priority to such interests when writing the interest and hobbies section of your CV. All these activities show the real person you are, and many employers judge candidates based on their hobbies and interests.
• If you mention interests in sports then this shows that you are fit and sporting spirit. Interest in community related activities show that you possess interpersonal skills, whereas interest in computing shows you are technology savvy. You can also mention that you like socializing with your friends, as this shows that you are a good team player.
• When listing your hobbies and interest, you should organize them as per the relevancy to the job you have applied for. For IT related jobs, you should put your interest in technology on the top of the list.
• While writing the hobbies and interest section in your CV, you should steer clear from religious or political affiliations, don’t stick to stereotypes such as like music, etc. and you should also avoid stating hobbies that are risky like rock climbing. You should also keep away the irrelevant hobbies that have nothing to do with the jab. Including too many hobbies is also a wrong practice.
• Remember that many questions can crop up from the hobbies and interest section of your CV, so when listing your interest, you should mention nothing but the truth, and should be able to speak about your interest when asked in the interview. For example, if you have mentioned that you like reading book, and when the interviewer asks you to narrate one of the stories that you have read last, you should be able to answer him or her, and not look blank, or else this shows that you have lied in your CV.

Maintain your focus when writing this section of your CV and talk about important activities that are worth the effort and time that you put in them. 

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