The short version
The interests line is one of the most important parts of your CV, and most students write it in thirty seconds. Some interviewers read it first. Some skip straight to it in the interview and spend ten minutes there. It's the most honest part of the page, so it's where they look for a person.
Write things you actually do, and write them specifically. "Football" gives an interviewer nothing to ask about. "Sunday league goalkeeper for six seasons" does.
Why it matters
Banks and consultancies spend a lot of time with the people they hire. Long hours, long flights, a lot of late dinners. The interview is partly a test of whether they'd want to do that with you. Your interests are the quickest way for them to find out whether you have a life outside work, and whether you light up talking about something.
Students treat this line as one more chance to look serious. Use it to look interesting. Here, specific beats impressive.
Make it specific
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| Football | Sunday league goalkeeper for six seasons |
| Art | Still life oil painting, two pieces in the college exhibition |
| Dancing | Competitive ballroom, university team |
| Reading | Twentieth-century Russian novels, currently working through Grossman |
| Travel | Walked the Camino Francés, 780km in 32 days |
| Cooking | Cooking my way through every region of Sichuan food |
Each of the specific versions gives an interviewer an obvious first question, and gives you something to talk about with real energy.
Don't tailor it to the industry
Don't write golf because you think bankers play golf. If an interviewer plays golf and asks you about your handicap, you're in trouble. They'll see whether you're interested in the thing within one follow-up question, and an invented interest costs you more than a plain one.
What else goes on that line
Languages, if you speak them well. "Mandarin (native), English (fluent), French (conversational)" is useful. A language you dropped after GCSE isn't worth the space.
Technical skills, if you can defend them. Python, SQL, VBA, financial modelling, Bloomberg or Capital IQ, if you've used them for something real. Interviewers will test anything here.
What not to write: "Proficient in Microsoft Office". Almost nobody is proficient by banking standards, and screeners know it. If you've taken an Excel or modelling course, name the course.
And never "References available on request". They know, and it's a line you could use for something else.
How long it should be
One or two lines. If it stops halfway across the page, it looks unfinished, so add another real item rather than leaving the gap. If it runs onto a third line, cut the weakest item.
The review checks every line of your CV, including whether your interests would start a conversation.