Hobbies that look good on a CV

[LavaAttack]

If you were looking to employ someone, what sort of hobbies or extra curricular activities would impress you the most?
Would any put you off the applicant?

What!? Stick with the truth.

I’ve never paid a blind bit of notice to anything about hobbies when I’ve been recruiting. I don’t care if you collect porcelain dolls or are a champion at fencing, I care whether you’re not an idiot and if you can do the job.

I said earlier it's all hypothetical @UnstableCow, I don't need any help IRL.

Ok, good. I was getting a bit worried there. 😂

I don’t know if it’s still a thing (hopefully not), but when I used to do a lot of recruitment for marketing roles, there was a bit of a trend for adding “Very active on social media” in this section, particularly amongst younger applicants. I think they thought it made them sound like influencers, or that they understood how to market themselves, and therefore would understand the job.

I just thought “Well, some hope of getting any work out of them - they’ll be in Facebook and Twitter all day”.

I don't really understand the question tbh.

Why would anyone look to impress a prospective partner by pretending to be interested in something if they're not? Wouldn't it be better to engage with the stuff that naturally interests you, which would hopefully attract people who are naturally like minded?

The purpose of a hobby is to pursue something that you find personally interesting, rewarding or satisfying - not to embellish a CV or impress other people.

Personally, I am impressed most by people who are authentically themselves.

Taxidermy?

It's more for school leavers that don't have much work history, it was something I put on a CV in my first job but not after that

People are not interested in what your hobbies are. Even people who do the same hobbies don't really care whether you do or not. A potential employer really does not need to know and all they glean from you including cheerleading at university on a professional document is that you don't know how to communicate properly.

I think any kind of volunteering looks good for a young person/ school leaver. Helping out at local parkrun, sports club or animal rescue all suggest reliability, ability to follow directions and work well with other people. DoE, scouts/ guides or outdoor pursuits show they don't just scroll social media or game all day!

Drama, choir or performance type hobbies might be a plus for a role where public speaking and confidence are important.

In a dating scenario, hunting or fishing/ train spotting / collecting and painting miniatures would be negatives for me. Active hobbies would be good (up to a point... training for an Ironman/ Channel swim probably a step too far!).

I only think it's worth mentioning non-work stuff if it makes you memorable, or if you've achieved a high standard in something or if you are using it to explain career gaps (took a year off to cycle around the world)

Potential partner? I love a magician. Judge all you want but when my DP showed me a magic trick I fell in love. It was the cigarette trick as well, very chavy. To be honest, if I ever came across a CV that said they did magic as a hobby I would have them in for an interview, but I think that’s just me. The only hobby that’s an ick for me is being really into WW2, because my dad is really into it and I’m sick of hearing about it.

Man Showing Off While Wearing Lycra and Specialist Footwear would have me running for the hills. In the opposite direction.

Well, it depends on the things I personally like or dislike. Someone up thread said they’d like someone into active sports, cycling etc, but that would likely put me off; I’d happily meet up with the miniature model painter or theatre goer, might meet the historical reenactment person to see if they were interesting but I might worry they were obsessed with battles which doesn’t interest me.

My former line manager told me that they searched me on socials, found my FB profile but could only see my name, photo and where I lived. But in that photo I was wearing my Guide leader uniform and that gave me some - well - brownie points.

Anything you put on your CV you will have to be authentic about.

If you claim to be interested in a pursuit like historic reenactment and ummm and arrr if they ask you about your last joust, then you're needlessly setting yourself up to fail. Your interviewer could be a world leader and you'll look like a twat.

don't make stuff up for the sake of it, that's bonkers!

I would be careful making up hobbies you have no interest in, you could find yourself cycling, mountaineering or playing golf every weekend when you would rather be watching the latest boxset

I don't think I've ever used hobbies to evaluate a person, whether that's as a potential employee, date or friend. Hobbies are, like children, pretty irrelevant to anyone outside the person who has them.

I don't think there's any one thing. I do a sport that requires a lot of discipline, I run, I run some clubs and volunteer so I think this probably "looks good" as I also have young children and work but I think anything that shows you have interests outside work is positive and things that involve physical activity, team sports or helping others are good.

As long as getting drunk in the pub isn’t listed why does it matter?