Should you put hobbies and interests on a CV?
Only when an interest shows something the job needs or gives an interviewer a real topic. Prospects says to leave the section out if nothing is relevant. Write one specific line per interest, not a bare list like "reading, travelling".1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
Run this three-question test before writing the section
An interests section is optional everywhere we checked. Harvard marks its Skills and Interests heading as optional, and Prospects tells readers to drop the section when they have nothing relevant. So the first job is deciding whether you need it at all. Ask three questions about each pastime you are thinking of listing.
- Could you talk about it for two minutes in an interview, with details, because you still do it?
- Does it point to a skill, a habit or a piece of knowledge the job advert asks for, or is it unusual enough to start a conversation?
- Would the line tell an employer something you would rather not tell them, such as your religion, your politics or a health condition?
Keep an interest only if it passes the first question and at least one of the second. The third question does not rule a line out; it tells you to decide on purpose. If nothing survives, delete the heading and give the space to experience or education.
Hobbies, interests or activities: which heading
Harvard's template folds them into Skills and Interests and describes the line as activities you enjoy that may spark interview conversation. If your pastimes include roles with responsibility, such as captain, treasurer or organiser, they read better under an Activities heading, which Harvard lets you move above Experience when it matters more for the job. Plain pastimes stay at the bottom.
What career services say about the section
The advice is consistent across the UK and US offices we read: be specific, link the activity to a skill when the link is real, and never invent a pastime.
| Source | What it says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| National Careers Service | You can include interests that show some of your skills; captaining a sports team shows leadership and organisation | Most useful when your work history is short |
| Prospects | "Socialising", podcasts and reading will not catch a recruiter's attention; relevant interests give a fuller picture and something to talk about | Name the interest the job can use, or leave the section out |
| Harvard Mignone Center | Interests line: activities you enjoy that may spark interview conversation | One line, last on the page, marked optional |
| University of Liverpool Careers | Give context rather than a long bullet list, pull out the transferable skills, and do not make up a hobby | One sentence of detail per interest |
| TED University (Türkiye) | Going to the cinema or travelling says nothing; captaining a basketball team or playing the guitar says something | Concrete beats general in Turkish CVs too |
Where the section goes
At the end, after skills. None of the sources puts interests above education or experience. On a one-page US resume the line competes for space with everything above it; on a two-page UK CV there is usually room for two or three lines.
Where it earns more space
- A first CV or a short work history, where the National Careers Service suggests interests that show skills.
- The Netherlands, where hobbies are a normal part of the CV; the Dutch CV format page covers that market.
- Jobs where the pastime is close to the work: a coding side project for a developer, a running club for a sports retailer, a food blog for a hospitality role.
Worked examples: weak hobby lines rewritten
This table is the core of the page. Each row takes a line that appears on many CVs, says what is wrong with it, and rewrites it for an invented applicant. Every name, number and club below is made up; write only what is true for you and what you can talk about.
| Weak line | Why it is weak | Rewrite (invented example) |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Everyone reads; it says nothing | Run a six-person book club at my local library; we read one translated novel a month |
| Travelling | Reads as holidays | Cycled the 210 km Danube path from Passau to Vienna in five days, planning route and budget |
| Football | Says what, not how | Goalkeeper in a Sunday league team for four seasons; club fixtures secretary since 2024 |
| Gaming | Risky without detail | Build and publish small puzzle levels in a level editor; 3,000 plays on the most popular one |
| Cooking | Too common to notice | Cook a different regional cuisine each month and write up the recipes for a family newsletter |
| Music | Which music, doing what? | Play bass in a covers band; we play four or five pub gigs a year |
| Socialising | Prospects names it as a line that fails | Delete it |
| Volunteering | It is experience, not a hobby | Move it to Experience or a Volunteering section |
One line, three parts
- The activity, named precisely (bass guitar, not music).
- One detail that proves it is real: how often, how long, a level, a result.
- A link to the job only when it is obvious; the reader can make the connection.
A full interests section for three applicants
Graduate applying for a data analyst role (invented): "Interests: Keep a public spreadsheet of my running times since 2022 and chart them monthly. Member of the university chess society; play in two rapid tournaments a year."
Warehouse operative applying for a team leader post (invented): "Interests: Coach an under-12 football team on Saturday mornings. Restore old bicycles and sell them on to local students."
Accountant moving into teaching (invented): "Interests: Tutor two secondary pupils in maths each week through a community scheme. Amateur astronomy; run the stargazing evening at a local scout camp each summer."
Two of the three lines in the last example are really volunteering. If unpaid work is close to the job you want, it belongs higher up; see the volunteering page.
Interests that reveal protected or sensitive information
A hobby line can disclose more than you mean it to. UK and EU law name the kinds of personal information that get extra protection, and a pastime can point straight at one of them.
| What the law lists | Hobby line that discloses it | Your options |
|---|---|---|
| Religious or philosophical beliefs (GDPR Art. 9); religion or belief (Equality Act s.4) | Church choir, mosque youth group, humanist society | Keep it if it shows a skill you want seen; otherwise write "choir singing" or leave it out |
| Political opinions (GDPR Art. 9) | Campaign volunteer for a named party | Name the skill (canvassing, event planning) or leave the party out for neutral employers |
| Trade union membership (GDPR Art. 9) | Union branch officer | Often relevant for HR or policy roles; your choice elsewhere |
| Health (GDPR Art. 9); disability (Equality Act s.4) | Wheelchair basketball, a patient support group | Disclose only if you want to; the disability page covers that decision |
| Age (Equality Act s.4) | Veterans' five-a-side, under-21 squad | Describe the activity without the age band |
None of this means you must hide who you are. Some people want an employer to know, and a faith-based or union role can be the strongest evidence of a skill. The point is to decide on purpose rather than by accident. Harvard's resume advice already tells students not to include age or gender; an interest can reveal both.
Sources and the date we read them
Every rule above comes from these pages, read on 13 October 2026. Links are under Sources.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Interests that show skills; sports captain example | National Careers Service, CV sections |
| Socialising, podcasts, reading fail; leave the section out if nothing is relevant | Prospects, How to write a CV |
| Skills and Interests heading optional; activities that may spark conversation; Activities can move above Experience | Harvard Mignone Center, bullet-point resume template |
| No age or gender on a resume | Harvard Mignone Center, Create a strong resume |
| Context over lists, transferable skills, do not invent | University of Liverpool Careers, Spotlight on CVs: the interest section (17 April 2023) |
| Special categories of personal data | UK GDPR Article 9, legislation.gov.uk |
| Nine protected characteristics | Equality Act 2010, section 4 |
When to leave the section out
- Your CV is already at its length limit and every other line is stronger.
- You are applying for a senior role; space goes to scope and results. The executive CV page covers that.
- The only candidates are generic: reading, music, travel, films, socialising.
- You stopped the activity years ago and could not answer a follow-up question about it.
- You would have to stretch the truth. Liverpool warns plainly against making up a hobby, and an interviewer may ask about it.
Better places for some interests
Some things people file under hobbies do more work elsewhere on the page.
- Unpaid work for a club, charity or school goes in Experience or a Volunteering section.
- A prize, a ranking or a scholarship goes in Awards or Education; the awards page covers the format.
- A side project with an output (an app, a website, a published level) can stand as a project entry with a link.
- A language you learned for fun goes under Languages, with a level.
CitedCV writes the CV from the facts you enter, so an interest only appears if you give it one, with the detail you supply. It will not add a pastime to fill space. The overall section order is on the how-to-write-a-resume page.
Questions people ask
Should I put hobbies on my CV?
Only if they show a skill the job needs or give the interviewer something real to ask about. Prospects says to leave the section out when nothing is relevant.
What hobbies look good on a CV?
Specific ones with a detail that proves them: a team you captain, a club you run, a project with an output. The activity matters less than the evidence in the line.
Is reading a good hobby to put on a CV?
Not as one word. Prospects names reading among lines that will not catch attention. Running a book club or reviewing books for a site says much more.
Where do hobbies go on a CV?
At the end, after skills and languages. Harvard places Interests as the last line of its optional Skills and Interests section.
Can hobbies hurt a CV?
Yes, when they are vague, invented or reveal something you did not mean to share, such as religion, politics or health. They also hurt when they push stronger lines off the page.
Should I list gaming as a hobby on a CV?
Only with detail that shows a skill, such as building levels, running a team or streaming with a schedule. "Gaming" on its own tells the reader nothing.
Do I need a hobbies section with no work experience?
It helps more then. The National Careers Service suggests interests that show skills when your work history is short; a team captaincy or club role counts.
Hobbies or interests: which heading should I use?
Either works. Use Activities instead when the entries are roles with responsibility, and Interests for pastimes; Harvard uses Skills and Interests.
Sources
- National Careers Service, CV sectionsnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
- Prospects, How to write a CVwww.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/how-to-write-a-cv
- Harvard College Mignone Center for Career Success, Bullet point resume templatecareerservices.fas.harvard.edu/resources/bullet-point-resume-template/
- Harvard College Mignone Center for Career Success, Create a strong resumecareerservices.fas.harvard.edu/resources/create-a-strong-resume/
- University of Liverpool Careers, Spotlight on CVs: the interest sectionwww.liverpool.ac.uk/careers/students/blog/hits-tip-advice/spotlightoncvstheinterestsection/
- UK GDPR, Article 9: processing of special categories of personal datawww.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/article/9
- Equality Act 2010, section 4: the protected characteristicswww.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/4