Hobbies and Interests in CV

smackbunnybaby

How important do people reckon having a "Hobbies and Interests" section in a CV is.

While i recognise why it might be nice to see from an interviewers perspective, will they actually read it?

I was talking to an interviewer one time and they said it was a waste to put it in there as they never read it?

Obviously you want to come across well in an interview as being well rounded individual, but can it swing an interview?

Mena

I doubt you'll get consensus on this one. Personally, when interviewing people for a position, seeing a hobbies/interests section on the CV got nothing more than a cursory glance at best. For me, they're a waste of ink. I'm sure there are other perspectives though.

doolox

When you are young hobbies and interests are important because young people have little else to put on a CV apart from the obvious School and Education information but as your worklife expands and fills out they are less important.
Interest in sports shows a person who is physically capable of more than the average and I would see it as important for physical jobs like Army, firefighters, cops and the like. Likewise one with a hobby of reading would fit in well as a librarian, teacher etc.
You will probably be asked why you are interested in the work applied for and if your hobbies and interests don't point favourably in the direction of the job you might not get it.
I remember applying for a nurse training position and all the other candidates had voluntary caring experience under their belts which obviously gave them a huge advantage in the race.

Running Bing

As a graduate hobbies and interests are on of the most important things on the cv.


During my interviews 60-70% of the time was spent talking about them.


I imagine they diminish in importance the longer your working (work experience becomes more important) but if you tailor them to the job they could still be worthwhile. For instance dont put down things just to show them what you are interested in..put down things that show a particular desirable quality.

Tabnabs

Unless they are relevant to the job in hand, they're just space filler. A quick glance at best and very rarely discuss in the interview.

TBH, they are sometimes a negative point; someone who loves travel and does the long trips abroad may well bugger off after a few months in the job for example.

Big Wave

I've interviewed hundreds of people & I always check this section - it gives me a good idea of whether or not the person will fit into my company & the other people who work there.

E.G. if their interests are fox hunting, car modification, and soccer; they won't get an interview. When you receive up to 100 CVs for 1 job, and you only want to interview 7 or 8 people, it's a great filter - but just one of many. There are numerous ways to ditch a CV within seconds - this is just one of them. I know it's harsh, but it's a necessity when you receive so many. Spelling, punctuation, & grammar mistakes in the e-mail/cover letter is another immediate delete: it shows lack of attention to detail. If you can't be arsed to do a 10sec free spell check on your application, then that reflects work ethic. Over use CAPS LOCK indicates a low IQ, and non capitalisation of letters (start of sentences, their name, etc) indicates they're lazy or just a bit dim. Also - if someone e-mails me from "hashboy86@yipee.com", that's another mail deleted without even looking at the CV. Use a proper e-mail address when applying for a job, FFS: "yourname@domain.com", preferably! Oh, and I don't give a sh*t about your Leaving Cert results unless you're 18 and want a job in McDonalds - just tell me what year you did it, and how many honours you got - it's irrelevant.

All simple things to note, but the above parameters will eliminate over 50% of applicants.

At one interview I had, the guy declared "I loved your CV anyway, but I was even more keen to call you for an interview to meet the type of person who puts "computer games" on their CV".
So, it was pretty important to me
Work exp is far more relevant ofc, but I wouldn't dismiss the hobbies section entirely

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Most employers take it very seriously.

It can tell them a lot about how the applicant fares with regard to team-work, leadership, orgnaisation abilities... anything that can be channeled into a working environment.

If someone just puts "walking, reading, socialising" they can come across as bland and probably not someone who's going to get the place on fire, figureatively speaking, whereas, if you've got a lot rich and varied leisure persuits, it can make you look confident, enthusiastic and willing to take chances.

nomadic

Big Wave wrote: »

E.G. if their interests are fox hunting, car modification, and soccer; they won't get an interview.

Where as if their interests are golf and rugby they're a shoe in.

dudara

Some employers will use this section as a means of assessing your social skills as well as the usual leadership, initiative etc.

For instance, I taught a kids Taekwon Do class, and interviewers loved discussing it, asking questions like how I structured it, and how I managed the kids, how I praised them etc

The right interviewer can make great use of this section.

the_syco

Most yank companies like the hobbies bit. Probably as it shows you're not a dim little robot. Saying that, it depends on the job.

Putting "drinking, socialising, and watching TV" on your CV is worse than nothing, imo. As Big Wave has said, if you see X down on a CV, and generally you get Y candidates with that stuff on the CV, and Y candidate is a not suitable for your company, Y won't get called. If they're a scumbag, they won't get called. If they're a knacker, maybe, just they can say they interviewed at least one knacker, in case the politically corrent people think the company is discriminating against a minority...

I had "lifeguard, teach swimming" on my CV at some point. Many jobs I went for, this was used as a starting point, as a few of them either have the lifeguard cert, or was interested how I came into doing it. When starting off, I had "interest in computers". That's still there, along with the certs.

leeroybrown

I include them but keep them short and either genuine or relevant. I've come across some people that think that they have no place on a CV but I still reckon that I'm better off with them on mine. Make sure you leave out the usual clichés as the last thing that an employer wants is another case of 'I like cinema, reading and socialising with friends'. I would also suggest avoiding non-involved hobbies such as 'armchair sports'.

pwd

The hobbies section of my cv is not a description of my personality or lifestyle. It's a list of things I've done that demonstrate soft skills.

Kipperhell

There is a real simple way to gauge it you put in the section if you are a member of an actual club or society if not don't.

I have read a lot on candidate selection and the basics are that interviews are the worst way to gauge anybodies suitability or ability. It really get perpetuated by the belief in peoples' own importance.

In saying that you still have to do them if somebody is actually interested in your hobbies it is actually a pretty bad sign for the person interviewing you and can indicate poor HR procedures.

gerrycollins

Babybing wrote: »

As a graduate hobbies and interests are on of the most important things on the cv.


During my interviews 60-70% of the time was spent talking about them.


I imagine they diminish in importance the longer your working (work experience becomes more important) but if you tailor them to the job they could still be worthwhile. For instance dont put down things just to show them what you are interested in..put down things that show a particular desirable quality.

this is so true.

Looking at CV's you can tell if they are a team player or an individual based on the sports they play. Also for more serious issues if they decide to tell you they are a B.A.S.E jumper you might not employ based on the fact they might not turn up someday.Extreme example I know.

I think they are about 30% important to the interview process not necessarly the actual job you are applying for.

artful_codger

Babybing wrote: »

As a graduate hobbies and interests are on of the most important things on the cv.

During my interviews 60-70% of the time was spent talking about them.

eh, were you speed dating or looking for a job ?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Running Bing

artful_codger wrote: »

eh, were you speed dating or looking for a job ?

eh no...I was applying for a job with about 2000 other applicants, most of whom had similar college experiences, did similar subjects in college, had similar grades and pretty similar work experience.


Interests and hobbies were a big differentiating factor and I made sure to put down things that were relevant to the job i.e. stuff that showed the ability to work as part of the team and stuff that showed leadership ability and organisational skills.

The interviewers obviously found the stuff interesting and so a lot of time was spent talking about it.

I know its different as you move further along but as far as grad recruitment goes its often a case of:

Does the person have the right grades from the right place? Check
Does the person have the right work experience? Check
Now what type of person are we dealing with?


To answer the last question the best place to start is often what they do in their spare time.

Running Bing

Also a pattern is clearly emerging here....for the people who actually look at CV's and screen candidates it appears to be important! that says it all really.

jhegarty

One thing.

Never lie about this about it. (or anything on your cv).

If I catch someone lying about the smallest thing on their cv then they waisted their time coming to the interview.

breadmonkey

Hmmm... I was always a bit concerned that my hobbies are all individual kinds of things. It's not that I don't enjoy team sports or can't work in a team but rather that I was never really good enough at any team sport to continue playing in college. I played rugby for six years when I was in school but I don't have this down because it would really be a lie to say I'm into it these days. This is going to reflect badly on me isn't it?

nyarlothothep

only if you've got a tool interviewing you who thinks extroversion is the holy grail. Tbh if its like that then it would be no different to the silly personality tests which discriminate against many a strong candidate in the US, you can't make judgments on a personality based on such slipshod methods. But why would you want to work for fools like that anyway.

artful_codger

nyarlothothep wrote: »

only if you've got a tool interviewing you who thinks extroversion is the holy grail. Tbh if its like that then it would be no different to the silly personality tests which discriminate against many a strong candidate in the US, you can't make judgments on a personality based on such slipshod methods. But why would you want to work for fools like that anyway.

exactly. if you're a graduate you talk about your college subjects, your projects, what you learned from them, how you worked in a team on those projects, how you showed leadership in those projects, what subjects you liked/disliked, what area you want to focus on in your career, etc etc. You don't need to talk about Tag Rugby to sell yourself for f*ck sake. Whoever was spending 60% of an interview asking about hobbies is a complete idiot and not worth working for.

Running Bing

artful_codger wrote: »

exactly. if you're a graduate you talk about your college subjects,

Im going for jobs where people are from pretty diverse backgrounds...whats the point in talking about subjects completely irrelevant to the job?

On the other hand a large glut of people would've done similar things in college and would be talking about the same subjects.

your projects

Again its not really something to differentiate between 2000 people. Everybody has done projects in college and I bet after the first 50 people bleating on about it it all sounds the same.

what you learned from them, how you worked in a team on those projects, how you showed leadership in those projects,

Of course that came up in every interview I went to but its hardly the most engrossing subject and theres not a lot of scope there to talk about it for 30-45 minutes.

You don't need to talk about Tag Rugby to sell yourself for f*ck sake.

Again you seem to be missing the point. If your going for a job with 2000 other people all with similiar college experiences sometimes you do.

Whoever was spending 60% of an interview asking about hobbies is a complete idiot and not worth working for.

If the companies I was interviewing with are not worth working for it doesnt leave a lot of options tbh!

Hmmm... I was always a bit concerned that my hobbies are all individual kinds of things. It's not that I don't enjoy team sports or can't work in a team but rather that I was never really good enough at any team sport to continue playing in college. I played rugby for six years when I was in school but I don't have this down because it would really be a lie to say I'm into it these days. This is going to reflect badly on me isn't it?

Wouldnt worry about that at all breadmonkey. Id make sure to emphasise teamwork skills in other areas though like previous work experience or college projects then just use your hobbies to highlight other desirable qualities you have.

nyarlothothep

College projects involve many different areas and questions, you could have a choice of several topics, your own included, and they can be approached in many different ways. Dismissing uni as some uniform experience is highly inaccurate. In fact how someone approaches an intellectual endeavor will tell you more about how they might work in a job. The problem with hobbies is that I feel it just turns the process into a popularity contest.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

nyarlothothep

Some people do it, some don't. People were discussing the merits of it, that's all. Its called rational debate.

Running Bing

nyarlothothep wrote: »

College projects involve many different areas and questions, you could have a choice of several topics, your own included, and they can be approached in many different ways. Dismissing uni as some uniform experience is highly inaccurate.

Im not dismissing uni as a uniform experience....Of course different people will get different things from their college courses but that can be difficult to get across in a 45 minute interview.


Also one of the main things that ensures uni is not a uniform experience is the extra-curricular activites and how involved people get.

In fact how someone approaches an intellectual endeavor will tell you more about how they might work in a job.

It depends on the job really and that also assumes that what somebody says in an interview gives an accurate reflection of how that person approaches an intellectual endeavour.

The problem with hobbies is that I feel it just turns the process into a popularity contest.

But like it or not that is often relevant to a job. If somebody is popular in college, gets involved in lots of things, gets on with people its likely thats the way they will be at work.


You have two people. Both have done similar things at uni, in similar uni's and have got similiar results. Academically both at least appear to be equally matched but one spends all their time watching tv and the other was president of the student union, took part in the drama soc, is captain of the football team which would you pick?

I know it seems unfair but thats the way it is.

Mrs OBumble

breadmonkey wrote: »

Hmmm... I was always a bit concerned that my hobbies are all individual kinds of things. It's not that I don't enjoy team sports or can't work in a team but rather that I was never really good enough at any team sport to continue playing in college. I played rugby for six years when I was in school but I don't have this down because it would really be a lie to say I'm into it these days. This is going to reflect badly on me isn't it?

Do you still watch rugby? If so, then it's one of your interests.

If you get to the interview and someone asks, you can talk about how you played at school, weren't good enough for the college teams so followed you interest in XXX instead ... and possibly mention something about how you're looking for a social/non-competitive team to join now.

Mrs OBumble

leeroybrown wrote: »

I include them but keep them short and either genuine or relevant.

If you're going to put 'em in, I'd suggest genuine and relevant.



Personally, I have three versions of my CV:

The "professional" one has in-depth details of previous roles and training, and no hobbies, because they're not relevant if you've got decent experience.

The "permanent, non-prof" one has dumbed-down details about previous roles and job-titles, and a hobbies and interests section.

The "temping" one has ever further dumbed-down details about previous roles and job-titles, and no hobbies.


YMMV.