How to use your hobbies to get a job: top tips

Translate multiple hobbies into skills

Elizabeth Bacchus, career coach and founder of The Successful CV Company: "It's great to be passionate about many interests, but have a think about which ones you are most interested in. How do they translate into the real world of work? Could these skills be used in some sort of advisory capacity? Having plenty of interests could make you a marvellous mentor to a young person."

Avoid buzzwords

Clare Whitmell, Guardian contributor and qualified business communication trainer: "Generic buzzwords confuse everyone – they're not helpful on a job description and almost meaningless on a CV if unsubstantiated. It helps to break down something as large as 'communication skills' into smaller elements: presenting, writing, synthesising, editing etc and explain how you use those skills."

Focus your interests and experiences on specific skills

Hannah Morton-Hedges, founder of Momentum Careers Advice: "Transferable skills can come from a range of experiences, not just hobbies. But most employers won't be looking for different ways that these skills can be proven – mostly one specific example is enough."

Ask employers to clarify what they're looking for

Dr Tracy Johnson, careers adviser at the University of Bristol and founder of Brainbox Coaching: "When it comes to understanding what an employer means by 'good communication skills' or 'dynamic', it can never hurt to give their recruitment department a call and ask for clarification and a specific example. If the job description is vague in this way, then it's fair to ask for a bit of clarity."

Hobbies are also good for relaxation

Mike Higgins, career coach and director of This Is My Path: "The whole point of a hobby is that it gives you a break from doing what you do in your 9-5. It can be a good source of information, but it doesn't have to be. It can just be downtime. If you are looking to beef up your CV, sometimes it can be preferable to do something like volunteering, rather than shoehorn a hobby into something that a recruiter may find interesting."

Don't tell porkies on your CV

Hannah Morton-Hedges: "Don't ever be inclined to make up hobbies because you think it will look good. Information given on hobbies are regularly used during interviews as a way of getting to know the candidate better. It will stand out like a sore thumb if you clearly don't know what you're talking about and recruiters will be left wondering what else on your CV may not be true."

Make your hobbies stand out on your CV

Hannah Morton-Hedges: "You don't need to give lots of information, but do make it interesting. A sentence saying, for example, "I enjoy reading" will never make an impact. Add a little more detail, such as "I enjoy reading books on modern culture and particularly the works of Douglas Coupland", and already you are starting to make yourself a little more memorable while also making your claims more real."

Apply your hobbies to the job ad

Elizabeth Bacchus: "If you're keen to include hobbies on your CV, it's critical to understand how to leverage these to gain the interest of recruiters. Always ask yourself, why would this be of interest to employers? How can I illustrate a tie-in to the advertised role? Are my hobbies unusual? Could they be an interview conversation starter?"

You can't have too many hobbies

Simon North, founder of Position Ignition: "I don't think you can have too many hobbies. What it shows is a level of commitment to using your time effectively. Employers are always impressed by that.

"Time is a scarce commodity, however, and it may be that somebody doesn't believe that you can have all those hobbies and be really interested and committed to them. That's a danger. Everybody needs downtime, and if your hobbies exhaust you and it impacts on your work, then you've hit the law of diminishing returns."

Lizzie Usher, programme and quality manager at The Duke of Edinburgh Award: "We encourage young people to explore their talents and interests by trying new things – it's all about developing the whole person. The wider the breadth of activities someone does, the more skills they can learn and the more they can learn about the potential career they wish to pursue."

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