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April 20, 2025
This article explains how to answer the interview question “What do you do in your spare time?” by using your interests and hobbies to show personality, enthusiasm, and transferable skills beyond your work experience.
What do you do in your spare time? It’s a question companies have posed to interview candidates since the beginning of time. It works because it provides a more rounded insight as to who you are and what motivates and interests you, but is there a right way or a wrong way to respond? Our guide gives you some helpful tips and sample responses to help you ace your answer.
Having a common interest with your interviewer can feel like the holy grail of answers to this question but even if you don’t have shared interests, you will still be able to connect by the examples you give. Recruiters are people too and they will be able to relate to elements of your hobbies and some of the passion behind them. It’s worthwhile checking out a prospective interviewer’s profile on LinkedIn ahead of an interview. That way, you can see if there’s any common ground to highlight and to help strike a bond when you meet.
Your lifestyle – being active shows that you have the energy and enthusiasm to set goals and persevere with a task. Your walking, running, gym routine or team sports activity conveys that you know the importance of staying fit. People who look after their fitness and well-being are likely to suffer fewer illnesses. Physical activities often generate higher energy levels too – all good news for prospective employers.
Something you are learning – this communicates that you have the capacity and desire to pick up new skills. In a fast-paced technological world, companies are always evolving so an ability to learn is critical. If you’ve recently taken up a new language or are you learning to play a new instrument talk about this. If you haven’t, then don’t worry! Talking about the latest developments and news in the sector you specialise in or want to work in, will show an eagerness to learn too.
Show Personality
Your spare-time activities help employers see your character and how you might fit into the team.
Highlight Transferable Skills
Many hobbies demonstrate skills like teamwork, discipline, creativity, or continuous improvement.
Interviewers will want to hear about any of your interests and pastimes. If you are a volunteer for a charity, take part in leading a team for a sports club, or have an interest that directly correlates with the nature of the company’s business, then make sure that you highlight these.
You don’t have to have a cram-packed agenda of activities to win with the spare time questions. Sometimes, our lifestyles dictate that we don’t have masses of room for a hobby due to other responsibilities. Take a look at the below sample answers that suit a diversity of circumstances:
The key strengths to demonstrate when answering a question about what you do in your spare time, are your enthusiasm, passion and commitment. Get these points across effectively and you’ll reap the positive feedback.
Highlights
FAQs
It helps employers understand your personality, interests, and how you balance work with life outside the job.
Mention hobbies that show enthusiasm, consistency, learning, or teamwork where possible.
Yes, simple hobbies work well when you explain what they say about your character or mindset.
