Should I Include Personal Interests On My CV?

01 May 2023

We’ve had a number of questions about this very topic recently, i.e. what to include or leave out. Whether we should include our hobbies or interests just because we might appear to be interesting / active / social / successful. Here are our thoughts:

1. Are They Relevant?

Possibly: Whilst recruiters don’t usually ask you to talk about your personal interests, some will view them with keen interest, to see what you do outside of work and whether it adds to the picture they want to build about you.

So, if you’re in the market for a job as a gym instructor for example, and you include interests which reinforce your passion for fitness, such as sporting competitions / training / coaching your local football / tennis / rugby team, then you’ll probably get some bonus points.

But possibly not: When your interests / hobbies have no relevance to the career path you choose, then recruiters probably won’t take them into account at all. Applying for a job as, for example, an HR Manager, and including your hobby of watching reruns of Dr Who, might not do you any favours, but you never know…. (See below!)

2. How Do Recruiters Take Interests Into Account?

As with many elements of recruitment and selection processes, personal interests will be viewed on a subjective basis. Recruiters will form an opinion about you based on everything in your CV, including your personal interests and hobbies.

Mentioning that you are a keen football follower, or you support a specific team, could be viewed positively by a recruiter who has the same interests. On the flip side, a recruiter who can’t stand football, or who follows a rival team may have their opinion of you tainted somewhat.

It’s a fact of life (despite many thinking it shouldn’t be) that recruiters have a tendency to recruit in their own image, i.e. people who appear to be similar to themselves. That could be related to their career path, their degree, their University or their personal interests.

(For the serious job hunters among us, doing some research about your interviewer could really do you a favour, especially if you find that you have some shared hobbies or interests with your (potential) next boss)

3. What are the Best Interests to Include?

If you decide to include personal interests on your CV, then give some thought to what effect their inclusion might have on your career. If they have relevance to your career, then you should probably include them. The best ones, in our opinion, are those which could give a recruiter the opinion that:

You use professional (and relevant) skills outside of the work environment. These can include showing leadership by coaching or managing a local youth sports team, or being a leader in your local chapter of the Scouts.
You are passionate about improvement, e.g. you are involved in community development projects. Anything that involves giving your time to the local community can be seen as virtuous and helpful and these are qualities that are sought after.
You are keen to be involved in new / challenging things. This can include being part of a local rock climbing or hill walking club. You may be a keen runner who tackles marathons on their time off. There are personal challenges that can keep you operating at peak efficiency at work, as well as outside of it and recruiters tend to like things like this.
You take self-development seriously. You may be taking an Open University course in the evening, which is aimed at improving your skills for the work that you are currently doing. This shows a keenness and a willingness to go the extra mile to hone your personal skills that can then be used at work for the good of the company.

4. What are the Interests to Avoid?

From our perspective, the only ones to avoid are those that could give a recruiter something which might adversely affect their opinion of you. Interviews are hard enough to get right without including things that can potentially have a polarising effect on the opinion of the interviewers.

The potential gain from them liking the same football team doesn’t offset the potential risk from them hating football. It’s probably best to leave out anything which:

hints at membership of political groups, unless you’re after a job in a political party as this would likely be to your benefit. Political parties tend to want to employ people who share the same values they do. Being a member should, in theory, give you a better chance if everything else was equal between you and another candidate.
reflects any negative views about any Protected Characteristics as defined by the Equality Act. There is simply no need to include anything like this in a CV. You have no idea who the interviewers are and whether they have protected characteristics themselves.
makes a recruiter worry that your morals are dubious - this can include allusions to illegal activity or even just that you are always out drinking with friends or dating. These examples of hobbies can make potential employers worry that you may not turn up on time to work because you seem very focused on having a “good time”. They may worry that this will impinge on your ability to do the job.
could give them the impression that your personal interests either come before your job, or indeed could keep you from giving 100% at work. As with the above answer, if you are seen to be too deeply involved in non-work activities, it can have negative connotations for recruiters.

5. Can Personal Interests Affect a Recruitment Decision?

So, in our opinion the answer to this is yes. They may ot always affect the decision in a way that is to your benefit and you can’t really complain about it after the fact if you have introduced the personal interest.

Our real advice is: You should always think carefully about everything you include in your CV, and that means absolutely everything, including interests.