Kent_Mackem
Striker
It's snippets like that which make this place at times genuinely useful. I've always seen CVs as chat-up lines or sales pitches. Kind of like the fishing rod. You use what's in their as the bait to catch the interest and get the interview. It's in the interview that you convert the curiosity of the employee into a job offer. So I try to structure the CV with obvious hooks that spark the interest of the interviewer and give them something to ask a question about. If you can direct the course of an interview into your specialist subjects then you have a greater chance of winning.
At a previous job we took on a whole load of students in their year out. When they returned to uni to do their last year they would typically have job interviews towards the end of the year or shortly afterwards. I used to give the students in my team graduate interview practice. At that stage they don't have much in the way of employment history. So a common question is "Tell me about the last project you did at uni" Such an open question is an absolute gift. I told them to just choose the subject that they know best or interests them the most. Even if they didn't do it last, or even at all that year. They then control the direction of the interview into the subject they are strongest with and/or about which they are most passionate.
The interview is a short period of time where little bells ring in the mind of th interviewer. Every time something interesting or good is said that shows the candidate is capable a little bell rings. If the candidate can direct the interview into their strongest subject then more bells ring. Hobbies are no exception as they show the candidate as being human, having interests and as Bob has pointed out can also lead into proving commitment, how they work in a team etc.
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