CV - other interests.

Hi.
As a recent graduate looking for work I'm trying to improve my CV and I'm frequently reading about the importance of the 'interests/activities' section. I know it's important to try and link each interest to a relevant skill/attribute, for instance I've mentioned that I'm captain of a football team (leadership/communication/team-working), but I'm stuck as to how to demonstrate why other interests are relevant.

So I'm just wondering what other people put down in this section and how they show that these interests are useful. For instance I am a member of a quiz team, I enjoy walking my dogs, I play a lot of poker and I regularly go to the gym, but as of yet none of these are on my CV because I don't know how to demonstrate that they involve relevant skills.

Reply 1

InterviewAdvice

Ex-graduate recruiter here. You can probably word those interests to show that you have a strong commitment to them and are persistent - so for example, if your quiz team have won any awards then obviously put those down. If you have managed to increased your fitness in a measureable way then put that down (i.e. increased cardiovascular fitness from 'average' to 'excellent' for my age group and have improved my strength in [x] area by [y] %. That would show also that you are someone who has goals and measures results. Obviously only put down what is actually true though. What jobs will you be applying for eventually? It may be that you could build up your CV up a bit more.