Once a week, Arras People will give one of our own expert project management careers consultants a chance to answer some of the nagging questions you have about the job process.
Question: I usually found out necessary to include details about my own personal life – extracurricular activities like marital status, clubs, no. of children, hobbies – on my CV. I’m starting to wonder if it’s still the right thing to do, and if so, where on the CV I should list it.
Interesting question – I believe this is personal choice; however, I do feel stating marital status and children is not required and have seen this kind of information at the top of the CV on a number of occasions, sometimes with the ages of the children and what course they are pursuing, etc., etc. Too much info!
I do believe, however, that it is sometimes deemed favourable to add some detail around personal interests as this adds a “human” slant and also gives the reader an idea of the kind of person you are. Steer clear of too much detail but a short paragraph stating your passion for summer holidays in Asia and hobbies such as group activities will add something extra. In my experience I have met clients who specifically ask for candidates who have been travelling or may have an specific interest such as architectural design – therefore if you do this / have an appreciation for this and it is not on your CV, you could be missing out. Your hobbies may not be as varied or deemed as exciting but walking across the moors with your dog and an appreciation for film noir speaks volumes about you. As your CV is a professional document I advise keeping the employment information and key skills to the front of the CV and keep the interests to the back of the CV.
The most important thing to remember when writing your CV is keep it clear and concise and to 2 pages (or 3 at a very maximum). Do what you feel comfortable with – if you want to say a little about “you out of work”, then keep it to a short paragraph. If you are struggling for space trying to fit in relevant work experience, achievements, skills and education, then leave the personal statement out of the document – be pragmatic, and forget the 7 page CV.
Great advice about including interests on a CV, without letting them dominate. Perhaps they might also give interviwers something to latch onto, if the conversation moves in the direction of free time, achievements in personal life, etc.
When job-hunting, I came up with a long list of interests that could potentially be included on my CV. For each application I made, I selected those that seemed be most relevant not only to the position in question, but also to the organisation.