Loading…
Practical guide
An optional section, often stuffed with empty words. When it genuinely helps, how to write a line that makes people want to ask about it, and what you never have to disclose.
The “Interests” section is the one part of your CV nobody really expects, and the last one people read. Written well, it gives the recruiter a reason to remember you and something to open the conversation with. Written badly (“sport, reading, travel”), it takes up a line to say nothing. This guide helps you decide, then write lines that work, without giving away anything you haven't chosen to share.
When space is tight and you already have experience in the field: a one-page CV gains a precious line (see the one-page CV). When you have nothing specific to say: three generic words do worse than nothing. And when what you would write would make you uncomfortable at interview: every line of a CV can turn into a question.
The formula: the activity, then what makes it concrete (how often, what level, a responsibility, a result). Write what you do today, not what you did at school, and nothing you couldn't talk about with pleasure if asked. Replace each “[X]” with your real figures.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Sport | Running with a club: half marathons, training every week |
| Reading | Crime fiction; member of my local library's book club |
| Travel | [X]-month trip around South America, planned and done solo, in Spanish |
| Cooking | Cooking for my neighbourhood association's events, up to [X] guests |
| Video games | Volunteer moderator of an online gaming community server |
| Music | Guitar; regular gigs with an amateur band |
| Volunteering | Volunteer treasurer of a sports club: accounts, grant applications |
French law limits what an employer can ask you: only information with a direct and necessary link to the job or to assessing your abilities. They must not question you about your personal situation: your health, your family situation, trade union membership, your sex life, your housing, your hobbies. And they are forbidden from rejecting an application because of your religion, political opinions or trade union activities, just as for your age, origin or family situation (see the sources at the bottom of the page).
You are still free to mention a commitment. But a religious, political or union commitment written on a CV exposes you to prejudice, even though discrimination is illegal. If that commitment taught you a real skill, describe the role rather than the organisation: “Treasurer of a non-profit: budget, annual general meeting” talks about what you can do, without saying what you believe.
Last, after languages: it is the section people read once the rest has convinced them. In a two-column CV, the side column suits it well. For the heading, “Interests” is the most common and the clearest; use “Volunteering” or “Community involvement” for real responsibilities, which are then worth moving higher up. The full order for your situation is in the order of CV sections.
In “My structure”, the AI sorts your CV into sections, then the rest happens without AI: rename “Miscellaneous” to “Interests”, move the section to the very bottom, switch it to the side column, add or remove a line, or remove the whole section. If it doesn't exist yet, “Add a section” offers ready-made headings (“Interests”, “Volunteering”, “Projects”, “Personal qualities”, “Driving licence”, “Associations”, “IT skills”, “Publications”): you write what you want in it in your own words, and the AI formats it without making anything up.
Screening software looks first at the job title, the skills and the dates. The site's ATS CV check doesn't even have a criterion about hobbies. This section won't get you past the filter; it can, however, tip the balance between two close applications once a human is reading. For what really counts with the robots, see ATS screening robots, and to find out what your CV could gain elsewhere, the CV analysis tells you what to fix, word for word.
No. Nothing is compulsory on a CV in France. Include it if it says something specific about you, and drop it if it takes the place of real experience.
Two or three, specific ones. A long list dilutes the best of them, and every line has to stand up to a question at interview.
Not of their own accord: service-public.fr lists hobbies among the personal matters an employer must not ask about, because they have no direct bearing on the job. But if you have put them on your CV, expect them to come up: it is often a question to put you at ease. You don't have to go any further than what you chose to write.
“Interests” is the most common and the clearest. “Volunteering” or “Community involvement” suit voluntary responsibilities better, which can then move higher up the CV. Avoid quirky headings, which screening software files badly.
This guide gives you a method, not legal advice: the official rules and amounts are those of the sources above, as at their date.
The site's tools and features that go with this guide: the figures there are calculated by the code, never by the AI.