Should I include my personal interests in my CV?

Some people say don’t include interests in your CV if you are an experienced senior professional as they are not “serious” enough and your CV should present you as a sober and professional businessperson, but it is OK for younger job-seekers to include them. Some people say don’t include them whoever you are.

I don’t agree; including interests humanizes a CV and helps to illuminate your personality. I think not including any is a bit boring – however senior you are.

A note of caution: be prepared to talk about your interests at interview. In a long recruitment career,  I always asked candidates about their interests at interview, and I’ve had more than one interviewee struggle to answer my questions. If you list an interest then make sure you can talk about it.

Some job-seekers list interests that they think make them look good for the role in question; “reading business books” is a classic example. This is a bit creepy in my view. If your interests coincide with the job/company you are approaching that's great, but don't contrive this coincidence. Be honest and open about what you like to do in your spare time. I suppose if your interests are particularly weird and/or controversial then they could be off-putting. Use your judgement.

So, be honest and be prepared to talk about your interests, don’t invent them or include them if they are too weird or controversial and don’t be boring and just list work-related stuff as interests. It’s simple!

My company, DJMRO, offers executive CV-writing services as well as two unique job-seeking packages; Individually-tailored CV Marketing Campaigns and DJMRO Career Boost. Most, but not all, of my clients are mid to senior executives in the global ICT sector. See my LinkedIn profile and www.djmro.com for more info.