What the “hobbies” section of your CV reveals about you

Mentioning at the end of your CV or in your LinkedIn summary that you practice yoga or that you are a passionate photographer allows recruiters to form an idea of ​​who you are. But this information says more about her personality than you might think …

The hobbies on the CV? Pfff, here is the first information to take from a well-stocked CV, say several. Still, hobbies, as long as they’re not too vague, are valuable and can earn points with recruiters.

CV hates wave

“The CV is an advertisement intended to lead to an interview,” believes Mathieu Guénette, guidance counselor and director of professional services at Brisson Legris. This is why, when there is a lack of space to describe your professional achievements, you try to avoid the superfluous. However, if you have the space to describe your hobbies, you might as well do it brilliantly.

Just about every hobby reveals skills in the candidate. Being the captain of a sports team demonstrates strong leadership. Loving video production proves a capacity for concentration and a love of a job well done. The practice of extreme sports highlights the interest in pushing one’s limits, the ease in the face of uncertainty and the ability to take calculated risks. Yoga indicates an ability to breathe and relax even in the most tense times. The passion for gardening proves an interest in nature, a characteristic more and more sought after in companies that want to reduce their environmental footprint …

Even better, certain hobbies prove the qualities described in the CV. A candidate for a branch manager position who wants to demonstrate his creativity in problem solving would benefit from saying – in addition to his original professional accomplishments – that he has been scrapbooking for 5 years.

But be careful not to be too vague! “As for opening the door, we might as well open it completely,” underlines Mathieu Guénette. He advises to include items that look like achievements. “I run marathons” and “I have been doing group spinning for five years” are worth more than “Sport”, for example. This demonstrates an iron will, dedication and motivation that are very useful in positions related to business development or sales, in particular. Rather than writing “Reading”, a common and vague hobby, Mathieu Guénette recommends adding an element that distinguishes the candidate, such as “I read a scientific magazine per week”.

Hobbies that make you sympathetic

While hobbies are not essential, they are facts that make a resume more user-friendly. A bit like “the icing on the sundae”, the little colorful touch that adds to the portrait and shows that the candidate is not just a sum of skills. The hobbies can also make a nice bond between the recruiter and the applicant, an opportunity to find affinities by starting the interview, for example.

The hobbies section of the CV also allows you to put a little meat around the bone when you have little experience in a particular sector, or when you are entering the job market. “At 17, that fills the void,” says Mathieu Guénette.

All in all, as a general rule, the worst that can happen with hobbies is that they occupy a space without being read, notes Mathieu Guénette. Usually, “they have neutral consequences”. Unless you really do it on purpose, like revealing your infatuation with the radical far right …

Source : Workopolis