What Hobbies and Interests to Put on a CV — Examples & Tips

What Is the Interests Section on a CV

The interests section on a CV is an optional part of the document where the candidate presents their hobbies, passions, and non-work activities. Unlike the experience or skills sections, interests are not directly about professional qualifications; instead, they reveal the candidate's personality, character, and additional soft skills.

From the recruiter's perspective, the interests section serves several important functions:

• Assessing cultural fit — hobbies help determine whether the candidate will mesh with the company's organisational culture and team.
• Insight into soft skills — active interests often indicate traits such as perseverance, creativity, or the ability to work as part of a team.
• A conversation starter at the interview — recruiters often open with a question about hobbies to break the ice and get to know the candidate on a personal level.
• A differentiating factor — when two candidates have similar qualifications, compelling interests can tip the scales in your favour.

Research conducted among recruiters shows that over 70% of them pay attention to the interests section, especially during junior-level hiring and for roles where teamwork is important. The section is therefore not just a formal add-on but a real element that influences how your candidacy is perceived.

It is worth noting that interests on a CV should not be a random collection of buzzwords. Well-chosen and well-described hobbies paint a coherent picture of a professional candidate who is active, engaged, and growing outside of office hours as well.

When You Need an Interests Section

The interests section is not equally important in every situation. Here are specific scenarios in which it is worth including:

You are a graduate or have limited work experience. When your experience section is short, interests can fill out the CV and demonstrate competencies you are developing outside the classroom. Volunteering, writing a student blog, or participating in academic societies are strong arguments that show your engagement.

You are applying to a company that values culture fit. Start-ups, creative agencies, and companies with a strong organisational culture pay particular attention to candidates' personalities. Interests show whether you will fit in with the team — for example, an adventure-sports enthusiast applying to a fast-paced start-up may be seen as someone who enjoys challenges and calculated risk.

Your hobby is directly related to the industry. If you are applying for a graphic-design role and you paint, create illustrations, or photograph in your spare time, that hobby directly strengthens your candidacy. The same goes for a developer with a hobby game-dev project or a marketer who runs a personal blog about trends.

You are changing careers and want to demonstrate transferable skills. Interests can prove that although your formal experience lies in a different field, you already have knowledge and passion in the new direction. For example, an engineer who has been investing in the stock market for years demonstrates analytical acumen valuable in finance.

You have unused space on your CV. If your CV fits on one page and there is white space remaining, well-described interests are a better way to fill it than stretching margins or enlarging the font.

On the other hand, it is better to skip this section when your CV is already very long (more than two pages), your hobbies are unrelated to the role, and every centimetre of the document could be devoted to describing professional achievements.

How to Choose and Describe Interests Step by Step

Creating a strong interests section takes a thoughtful approach. Below you will find a detailed guide that walks you through the entire process — from analysing the job posting to the final review.

Step 1: Analyse the Job Posting and Company Culture

Before you start thinking about specific interests, spend a moment analysing the job posting and the company you are applying to. Pay attention to:

• Required soft skills — if the posting mentions teamwork, look for group activities among your hobbies. If it highlights creativity, choose artistic interests.
• Company and team descriptions — check the website, social-media profiles, and employee reviews. Does the company organise team-building trips, charity runs, or hackathons? This is a clue about which hobbies might resonate with the team.
• Industry and role specifics — the tech industry values technological passions, marketing values creativity, and finance values an analytical mindset. Match your interests to the context.

Step 2: List All Your Hobbies and Activities

On a piece of paper or in a document, write down absolutely all your interests, activities, and hobbies — without filtering. Include:

• Sports and physical activities (running, swimming, football, yoga, climbing).
• Intellectual hobbies (reading, chess, crosswords, language learning, online courses).
• Creative activities (photography, drawing, writing, music, DIY).
• Social activities (volunteering, event organising, mentoring).
• Industry-related interests (hobby projects, niche blogs, conference attendance).
• Other (travelling, cooking, collecting, gardening).

At this stage what matters is completeness, not selection. The longer the list, the more options you will have in the next step.

Step 3: Filter the List for Recruiter Value

Now go through your list and for each hobby ask yourself three questions:

1. Does this hobby demonstrate a competence valued in this role? (e.g. team sports = teamwork, running = perseverance, chess = analytical thinking)
2. Could I talk about it engagingly in a job interview? If not, cross it out. The recruiter may ask about any hobby listed on your CV.
3. Does this interest set me apart from other candidates? "Music" will not differentiate anyone, but "composing electronic music and publishing tracks on streaming platforms" will.

Remove interests that:

• Are too generic and common (e.g. just the word "films" or "music").
• May be controversial or polarising (politics, religion — unless relevant to the role).
• Suggest a lack of professionalism ("partying", "scrolling TikTok").
• Are not genuine — a lie will surface during the interview.

Keep 3-5 interests that best match the role and present you in the best light.

Step 4: Describe Interests Specifically and With Context

This is the most important step. Never limit yourself to single-word labels. Instead of writing "sport", describe your activity in a way that gives the recruiter concrete information. Use the formula:

Specific activity + context or achievement + (optionally) skill developed

Compare:

Weak: Interests: sport, reading, travel, cooking

Strong:

• Long-distance running — completed 3 half-marathons, training consistently 4 times per week
• Non-fiction literature — reading approx. 25 books per year on business psychology and management
• Cultural travel — visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites, learning the basics of local languages (currently Portuguese)

The difference is enormous. A specific description paints the picture of a determined, curious, and systematic individual — traits any employer would be happy to see in a future team member.

Here are additional tips for crafting descriptions:

• Include numbers and facts — "3 half-marathons", "25 books a year", "5k followers" — this builds credibility.
• Mention achievements — completed courses, certifications, summited peaks, published articles.
• Show consistency — "for 4 years", "consistently", "every month" — this demonstrates commitment.
• Keep it concise — one line per interest is perfectly sufficient.

Step 5: Place the Section in the Right Part of Your CV

The location of the interests section depends on your experience:

• At the end of the CV (standard) — if you have work experience, place interests after the experience, education, and skills sections. This is the natural spot that does not divert attention from key information.
• Higher up (for candidates without experience) — graduates and career changers can place interests just below education. In this case, hobbies serve as an additional argument.
• In the sidebar — modern CV templates often have a side column for skills, languages, and interests. This is an elegant, space-saving solution.

Remember that the interests section should not take up more than 10-15% of the CV's surface area. Do not sacrifice space for more important sections.

Step 6: Review and Polish the Final Version

Before sending your CV, check the interests section for:

• Consistency with the rest of the CV — do the interests align with your professional profile? If you present yourself as an analyst but all your hobbies are purely creative, it may look inconsistent.
• Spelling and grammar errors — a typo in the interests section is a small detail, but it can spoil the overall impression of professionalism.
• Authenticity — can you genuinely talk about each listed hobby? Imagine the recruiter asking: "Tell me more about..." — if you have nothing to say, remove that item.
• Formatting — interests should follow the same visual style as the rest of the document (font, bullet points, spacing).

Most Common Mistakes in the Interests Section

The interests section seems like a straightforward part of a CV, yet candidates regularly make mistakes that weaken the entire document. Here are 7 of the most common errors and how to avoid them:

1. Single-word entries without context. Writing "sport, music, travel" is the most widespread mistake. Such entries give the recruiter zero useful information and look like they were thrown in at the last minute. Always add context and specifics — what exactly you do, for how long, and what you have achieved.

2. Copying interests from online templates. Recruiters see hundreds of CVs every week and instantly recognise copied hobbies. Instead of transcribing a list from the internet, think about what you genuinely do and describe it in your own words.

3. Listing interests you do not actually have. Lying in the interests section is a risk not worth taking. If you write "running marathons" but cannot state your best time during the interview, you will lose credibility — not just in this section but across the entire CV.

4. An excessively long list of hobbies. Listing 8-10 interests creates the impression of a lack of selection and dilutes the message. The optimal number is 3-5. It is better to describe 3 hobbies in detail than 10 in a single word each.

5. Controversial or polarising interests. Party politics, extreme social views, or even supporting a specific football club are topics that can trigger negative reactions from the recruiter (who might support a rival). Stay on safe ground unless you are certain a controversial hobby is an asset for the specific role.

6. No tailoring to the role. Sending an identical interests section to every employer is a missed opportunity. Adjust your selection of hobbies for each specific job — just as you adjust your professional summary or skills list.

7. Interests that suggest risk for the employer. Extreme sports with a high injury risk (BASE jumping, motocross) may raise employer concerns about potential long absences. This is not about hiding your passions but about making conscious choices — in an application to a corporate bank, it is better to highlight chess than unsecured high-altitude climbing.

Ready-to-Use Interests Templates for Your CV

Below you will find ready-made interest examples tailored to different industries and roles. Feel free to adapt them, remembering one rule: change the details so they reflect your actual hobbies and achievements.

IT and Technology

• Open-source development — active GitHub contributor, working on TypeScript and Python projects
• Cybersecurity — regular participation in CTF challenges, completed ethical-hacking course
• Home automation — building a smart-home system based on Raspberry Pi and Home Assistant
• Robotics — building and programming robots for Sumo and Line Follower competitions
• Tech blogging — writing articles on microservices architecture, 1.5k monthly readers

Marketing and Communications

• Product photography — running an Instagram account (5k followers) documenting local craftsmanship
• Content marketing — personal blog on e-commerce trends with 2k monthly readers
• Hobby copywriting — writing short stories and opinion pieces, publishing on literary platforms
• Market trend analysis — following industry news, regularly attending marketing webinars
• Travel — exploring new cultures and communication styles, visited 15 countries in 3 years

Finance and Banking

• Investing — building a long-term portfolio, fundamental analysis of technology stocks
• Chess — FIDE rating 1600+, regular participation in online and over-the-board tournaments
• Data analysis — hobby projects in Python and R, creating economic data visualisations
• Long-distance running — completed a full marathon, currently training for ultra-trails
• Economics literature — reading approx. 20 titles per year (Taleb, Kahneman, Damodaran)

Healthcare and Medicine

• Medical volunteering — weekend support at a hospice, coordinating university blood-drive campaigns
• Yoga and mindfulness — certified instructor, promoting a healthy lifestyle
• First aid — completed advanced first-aid course, active member of a rescue group
• Health education — running an educational TikTok account debunking health myths (10k followers)
• Scientific research — co-author of publications, member of a student research society

Education and Training

• Creating educational materials — personal YouTube channel with maths lessons for secondary-school students
• Amateur theatre — directing and performing in a local drama group for 4 years
• Gamification — designing educational games for history lessons using Kahoot and Genially
• Mentoring — tutoring and running extra classes for students with learning difficulties
• Educational travel — exploring education systems in other countries, participation in Erasmus+

Universal Interests

These descriptions work across most industries and roles:

• Running — completed 3 half-marathons, training consistently 4 times per week
• Language learning — currently studying Japanese (A2), previously reached Spanish (B2)
• Asian cooking — experimenting with traditional Thai and Japanese recipes
• Non-fiction literature — reading approx. 30 books per year on psychology and personal development
• Mountain hiking — completed major national long-distance trails

How to Speed Up Writing the Interests Section

Manually tailoring interests to each job posting can be time-consuming, especially when you are applying to many positions at once. Fortunately, AI-powered tools can significantly speed up the process. AI can analyse the job posting, identify the desired soft skills, and suggest interests that best reflect those competencies.

Using AI does not mean giving up authenticity. The goal is to find the best wording more quickly for your genuine hobbies and match them to the recruitment context. Instead of spending hours polishing descriptions, you get ready-made suggestions that you then refine. This is especially useful when you create multiple versions of your CV for different roles and need to shift the emphasis in the interests section each time.

How to Use CV AI to Create an Interests Section

CV AI is a tool that lets you quickly build a professional interests section tailored to a specific job posting. The process is straightforward and consists of a few steps:

First, you upload an existing CV or start building a new document from scratch. If you already have a CV, the AI analyses its content — including the current interests section — and suggests improvements. If you are starting from zero, the builder walks you through every section step by step, including interests.

Next, the AI generates interest suggestions matched to your professional profile and industry. You can specify the position you are targeting, and the tool will recommend hobbies that best highlight your soft skills. Each suggestion is described concretely — with context and achievements — exactly as recruiters expect. Of course, you retain full control over the content: you can edit, remove, and add your own interests.

Finally, you download the finished CV as a PDF. The entire document — together with the interests section — is visually and substantively consistent, ready to send to the employer. With CV AI, creating a professional interests section takes minutes instead of hours.

Summary

The interests section on a CV is not a superfluous add-on but a strategic element that can make your candidacy stand out. To make the most of its potential, remember a few key principles: choose hobbies with the role and industry in mind, describe them specifically with achievements and context, steer clear of cliches and controversy, and only list genuine interests you can discuss comfortably in an interview.

Three to five well-described interests carry more weight than ten single-word labels. Spend a few minutes thinking this section through — and it may turn out to be exactly what catches the recruiter's eye and earns you an interview invitation. If you want to save time and be confident that your CV is professional from the first line to the last, try CV AI — the builder that helps you create a complete document in just a few minutes.