A survey of employers carried out by indoor sports centre SNO!zone found that many are bored by the standard personal interest such as “reading” and “cinema” on graduate CVs.
Instead, interests including snowboarding, martial arts and rock climbing came out top when it came to hobbies prospective employers want to see.
Of the 500 bosses questioned by SNO!zone, which has indoor real snow slopes in Milton Keynes, Castleford, Yorkshire and Braehead, Glasgow, almost 60 percent said listing reading and cooking suggested a lack of imagination or ambition in a candidate, while 82 percent said an interest in extreme sports was an attractive quality, suggesting energy and ambition.
While personal interests were rated as less important than work experience and qualifications, more than 90 percent said they took it into consideration when hiring.
Listing an interest in any sport was regarded as positive by 94 percent, 31 percent said cooking suggested creativity while 70 percent rated a foreign language as an attractive interest even if it wasn’t relevant to the role.
Lisa Allan, SNO!zone brand manager, said: “Many graduates believe the personal interests section on their CV is unimportant and don’t really think about what they put down. But this survey proves that the majority of employers want staff that stand out from the crowd and show some individuality on their CVs.
“Not only do employers want someone experienced and well qualified, they also want someone with the right personality to fit into the team and fulfil the vacant role and personal interests give a good insight into an individual.
“The feedback we got was that extreme sports suggest someone is spirited and energetic and are therefore likely to bring those characteristics to their job.
“It just goes to show that not only do activities such as snowboarding or mountain biking keep you fit, they could also land you your dream job.”