Your CV is your chance to showcase your skills, accomplishments and experience to potential employers. While full-time jobs and education are obvious additions, your hobbies and interests also highlight important skills. With some finesse, you can reframe your hobbies as professional skills that make you an attractive candidate.
Identify Transferable Skills
The first step when using a CV builder free to create a CV is identifying what transferable skills your hobbies demonstrate. Almost any activity requires soft skills like organisation, communication, teamwork and problem-solving. Think broadly about what skills are involved, even indirectly, in your hobbies.
For example, if you lead hikes at your local nature preserve, that shows leadership, public speaking and community engagement abilities. Planning museum visits for your family’s trip demonstrates research, logistics and event planning skills. Even gaming marathons with friends highlight teamwork, focus and interpersonal skills.
Tailor Skills to the Role
Once you have a robust list of skills from hobbies, tailor which ones you emphasise for each application. Read the job description closely to identify the most relevant hard and soft skills. Then, handpick accomplishments and responsibilities from your hobbies that align with those desired skills.
For a project management role, the example of museum visit planner might highlight logistical abilities like “researching destinations, developing an itinerary spanning ten days and five cities, coordinating transportation and lodging for a family of four.” For an event planning role, coordinating the hiking group outings would be more relevant.
Fitting your hobby skills directly to the job shows self-awareness. You understand what the employer seeks and how you fill those needs. This targeted approach is more powerful than a generic list of skills from hobbies.
Put Your Hobbies in a Skills Section
The most direct approach is to list your hobby skills in the skills or key skills section of your CV. First, include hard skills and specialised abilities like languages or software proficiencies specific to your industry and target role.
Then add a subsection like “Additional Skills Demonstrated Through Hobbies and Interests.” List 3-5 soft skills tied to your hobbies here. Following the examples above, those entries might be:
- Event Planning: Developing engaging activities, coordinating logistics, recruiting participants
- Research: Investigating options extensively, identifying key details, summarising complex information
- Public Speaking: Presenting to large groups, tailoring messages to audiences, and conveying ideas clearly
A dedicated skills section allows you to articulate the transferable skills prominently. Hiring managers can immediately identify these valuable abilities.
Incorporate Skills into Other Sections
You can also integrate hobby skills organically into other CV sections like Work Experience, Education and Achievements. For example, under an internship description, you could say, “Led campus tour groups of 20+ prospective students, utilising strong public speaking and customer service skills (honed through nature tour guiding).”
Or in an Achievements section: “Organised annual hike-a-thon for 20 members of Hilltop Hiking Club, demonstrating project management abilities to deliver a successful event on time and under budget.”
Weaving skills throughout your CV creates a cohesive narrative. The hobby examples make the skills more concrete, memorable and tied to real-world experience. Just be careful not to let hobby achievements overtake professional ones in core sections.
Quantify Outcomes
Whether in a dedicated skills section or woven throughout, quantify your hobby accomplishments whenever possible. Specific numbers better demonstrate your talents than general statements.
Instead of “Led small group hikes frequently”, say “Led nature hikes for groups of 10-15 people every Saturday for 2 years.”
Rather than “Helped plan museum visits on family vacations”, say “Researched, planned and managed five museum-focused itineraries for 7-day family trips to major European cities.”
Metrics like attendee numbers, money raised, hours spent, years of participation, and frequency make your skills more convincing and impressive.
Choose Hobbies Strategically
Some hobbies translate better than others. Volunteering, sports teams, community groups and campus clubs offer great options. Niche or solitary hobbies like gaming, reading or collecting are tougher. Try to showcase more social activities that obviously involve skills, especially for professional roles requiring lots of interaction.
Avoid political, religious and other potentially divisive hobbies. Discrimination protections may vary, so steer clear of hobbies that could raise red flags. Controversial activities risk alienating recruiters, no matter the skills gained.
For recent graduates with minimal work experience, hobbies may play a bigger role in filling out your skills profile. However, all candidates should be selective and highlight transferable skills that fit the target job.
Be Ready to Discuss Hobbies
Mentioning a hobby on your CV invites questions about it, so prepare to discuss activities knowledgeably. Be ready to share details like how you got involved, length of participation, favourite aspects of the hobby and what you have gained from it.
If you claim that leading hikes built your communication skills, for example, have stories about facilitating trail discussions ready to share. Avoid exaggerating your role or commitment to hobby activities. Provide honest, realistic accounts of how each activity has enhanced your abilities.
With thoughtful consideration, framing hobby skills effectively can strengthen your CV and candidacy. Turning fun personal pursuits into professional assets takes some work but pays dividends in showcasing your range of experiences and capabilities.
