Writing · 2026-08-22 · 12 min read

Interests and hobbies on a CV: what to keep and what to cut

Personal interests on a résumé: which hobbies add value for the role, which waste space, and when to delete the whole section.

Interests on a CV do not win the interview. A bad hobby can lose it: “travel, film, and music” eats the last fifth of a page that could hold an achievement. People search “hobbies CV” because templates leave a hole and leaving it empty feels rude. The test is not filling. It is signal. If the interest does not explain how you work or the environment you are applying to, cut it.

This guide separates interests that work (team sport in an operations role, open source on a dev CV, measurable volunteering) from noise. Also when to delete the section: a senior on a tight two pages, or a junior whose “interest” is Instagram. Related to hard and soft skills: a hobby does not replace a skill proved in a job. ClarCV helps when the section is bloated or in icons: upload the PDF and trim without rebuilding the layout by hand.

You will not invent a trekking hobby to look “resilient”. You will leave two or three defensible lines, or none. At lunch someone will ask. “Reading” does not survive that question.

When the section adds value

It adds if the interest is specific, checkable, and close to the role or the culture they describe. “Club runner, sub-45 10k” says discipline and a number. “I run a product-management book group (20 people, Meetup)” is informal leadership. “Django repo contributions (link)” is a portfolio. The recruiter can Google or ask. That is worth it.

• Team or registered sport, with one fact (league, race number, captain).
• Volunteering with a function and frequency, not “I help an NGO”.
• Public projects: blog, GitHub, newsletter, podcast with real episodes.
• A hobby that is a sector keyword (photography for a studio, sailing for a yard, chess for an analytical role — with a club or tournament, not the myth).
• Leisure languages only if they are not already in Languages.

Before: Travel, film, music, internet, sport. After: Trail running (half marathons 2023–2025) and community radio (sound tech, one show/week). The first is a sticker. The second is a ten-second story.

What to cut (even if it is true)

Travel, film, series, music, “time with friends”, social media, “the internet”, generic cooking, football as a spectator. They are not false; they are non-information. Also cut political or religious interests unless that is the job. Be careful with sharp humour or high-risk hobbies in conservative sectors: it is not censorship; the PDF travels to people who do not know you.

If you are junior and the page looks short, do not fill with hobbies. Add a project, a dissertation in two lines, an internship. See internship CV and CV with no experience. Empty space beats five clichés. Related to what not to put: generic interests are the same kind of noise as marital status.

How to write them (no bars, no emoji)

Plain text, at the end, three items max. Name + fact. Do not use “passion 90%” bars. Do not use a bicycle icon: ATS does not index the pictogram. Do not mix interests with skills (“teamwork” is not a hobby). If the interest is a project, a short text URL (github.com/ana) beats a decorative QR that does not parse.

The professional summary is not the place for hobbies. “Passionate runner” in the first three lines steals the role and the keywords. The summary is role + proof. Running, if at all, goes at the bottom.

When to delete the whole section

Delete it if it pushes you over one page (junior/mid) or two (dense senior) while you are cutting achievements. Delete it on an academic CV or MBB consulting if space is gold. Keep it for SMEs, hospitality, sport, informal education, or a very human process (direct email to a studio). Channel beats the generic advice to “humanise the CV”.

In ClarCV you upload the PDF, see whether the section is bloated or in icons, and regenerate an ATS template. Free: 3 analyses and 2 downloads / 30 days, no card. Pro €7/month. You decide whether interests stay; the tool does not invent a trek.