Listing Hobbies on Your CV: How to Add a Personal Touch

Think of your CV as your story, your way to promote yourself, and what you offer to potential employers. While that story tends to focus on your professional efforts—what you’ve done, the skills you’ve developed, and what you’re excited to do next—a hobbies section can add more personal details. 

Let’s review when you might want to include a hobbies section on your CV, what you can list, and how to format that information.

Adding a hobbies section to your CV

A hobbies section on your CV is an opportunity to share more about you, providing a larger picture than your professional accomplishments alone may convey. Employers tend to be more interested in your professional experience and skills. Still, they may use details from a hobby section to learn more about your personality, interests, and skills to decide if you fit their company culture well.  

When should you include a hobbies section on your CV?

When applying for a job, you have limited space on your CV to share the most important and relevant information. A general rule is to keep your CV to two pages. 

Your CV should always include certain sections, such as a header, education, experience, and skills. You may also want to include a summary or profile, depending on your goals. Given the limited space you have to work with, a hobbies section isn’t always necessary. If you still have room after including all required sections, consider adding a hobbies section. 

You may want to use a hobbies section when: 

• You’re a recent graduate looking for your first full-time role

• You’re reentering the workforce after a significant gap

• You haven’t yet earned a lot of experience 

• You haven’t yet developed many skills  

• A company specifically requests one 

How to add hobbies to your CV

Follow the steps below to determine what hobbies you should include on your CV and how to format them. 

1. Make a list. Think of 5 to 10 hobbies or interests you enjoy. These can be things you do occasionally or frequently, but they should illustrate your personality. 

2. Review the job description. Read over the “essential” and “desirable” sections to see if any personality traits stand out. For example, is the company’s ideal candidate someone who takes initiative or has strong attention to detail? Determine whether you can align your list's hobbies with the job description's characteristics.  

3. Review the company’s mission. Review the company’s “About” section on its website and see if any key traits stand out. Does the company emphasise collaboration? Do they value service or self-development? Again, consider ways to align your hobbies with the company’s mission.

4. Create a distinct section. Don’t include your hobbies under your “experience” or “skills” sections. Instead, create a new section titled “Hobbies” or “Hobbies and Interests.” This should be the last section of your CV. 

5. Choose up to five hobbies or interests. Figure out the best hobbies or interests to feature from your original list in your hobbies section. Aim to include between three to five examples. Use bullet points to list your hobbies, or create one to two sentences and use commas to separate them. 

Let’s review three ways to build a hobbies section on your CV: 

Hobbies that align with a role 

There may be times when the hobbies you list align naturally with the role you’re applying for, giving you a chance to showcase how well you fit the available position. 

For example, if you’re a graphic designer applying for a role that seeks a creative personality with strong attention to detail and comfortability leading projects, you might choose hobbies that support those characteristics.

Hobbies and Interests 

• Volunteer lead at X

• Painting (watercolour, acrylic) 

• Cooking Mediterranean cuisine

• Learning how to speak Japanese 

Hobbies that build on your skill set

You may choose to include hobbies that highlight key skills. For example, suppose you work in social media and often have to develop new campaign ideas, including creating language and assets. In this case, your skills can emphasise your creativity, communication, and proactivity. 

Hobbies and Interests 

• Creative writing

• Reading

• Sketching

• Teaching yoga

Hobbies that show off your personality 

Your hobbies don’t always have to coincide neatly with the jobs you’re applying for. They can truly stand alone, helping tell a bigger story about who you are. In this case, determine the best five hobbies or interests to share your personality. 

Hobbies and Interests 

• Paddleboarding

• Volunteering at X

• Playing chess

• Podcasting

• Making videos

48 skill-based hobbies for your CV

Not sure what qualifies as a hobby? We’ve got you covered with the examples below, which align hobbies with the skills most in demand, according to the World Economic Forum's 2023 Future of Jobs Report [1]. 

Analytical thinking 

• Chess

• Board games

• Crossword puzzles

• Event planning

• Sudoku

• Brain games

Creative thinking

• Painting

• Drawing

• Photography 

• Writing

• Playing a musical instrument 

• Woodworking

• Knitting or crocheting 

• Making jewellery 

• Scrapbooking

• Pottery making

AI and big data

• Writing step-by-step tutorials

• Modifying video games

• Completing open-source projects

• Programming drones

• Developing games with Python

• Creating machine learning models

• Creating AI-generated art or music

Leadership and social influence

• Blogging

• Podcasting

• Making videos

• Volunteering

• Teaching a skills-based class 

• Teaching a group fitness class

Resilience, flexibility, and agility

• Yoga

• Meditation

• Exercise 

• Hiking

• Rock climbing

• Kayaking

• Mountain biking

• Running marathons

• Paddleboarding 

• Scuba diving

Curiosity and lifelong learning

• Learning a new language 

• Speaking a foreign language

• Enrolling in a class 

• Learning to dance

• Cooking

Technological literacy

• Building websites 

• Designing apps 

• Learning graphic design

• Coding

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