In UK tech hiring, and especially for applicants targeting the Skilled Worker Visa, your CV must go beyond listing roles. It should illustrate initiative, technical depth, and adaptability. Integrating hobbies such as open‑source contributions, game development, tech blogging, hackathons, and community involvement creates a convincing description that resonates with employers and immigration assessors alike.
Market Context: UK Tech Job Trends in 2025
The UK tech workforce reached 2.13 million in 2023, up 3.4 percent from the previous year, with a projected growth of 1.7 percent in 2024. However, tech job adverts have declined nearly 70 percent from their early pandemic peak, now averaging just 14,000 new position posts per week, compared to 40,000 before. The drop is attributed to right-shoring and AI adoption, factors that put a premium on self-driven proficiency and creative technical experience.
Still, many UK tech firms continue recruitment efforts: the Sunday Times 100 Tech growth companies expect to create over 11,200 roles with salaries between £70,000 and £150,000. Midsize firms remain actively hiring across fintech, AI, and the expanding UK tech hub regions.
This competitive and changing environment means CVs must showcase not only formal experience but also independent technical projects and community engagement that prove real capability and self-motivation.
Why Hobbies Matter for UK Hiring and Skilled Worker Visa
Recruiters and Home Office assessors look for evidence of sustained technical and transferable skill application. A CV demonstrating personal projects signals initiative, continuous learning, and problem-solving capacity. According to research on AI and green roles in the UK, skill-based hiring has grown by 21 per cent since 2018, while reliance on university degrees has declined by 15 per cent, indicating a growing value placed on demonstrable skills. For the Skilled Worker Visa, applicants must score at least 70 points, job offer, salary, qualifications, and specialised skills, and personal projects underpin those skill-based criteria.
Open‑Source Contributions
Investing time in open-source is particularly powerful in the UK. Not-for-profit groups such as OpenUK have positioned the UK as a leading open‑tech contributor in Europe, and active contributors gain visibility and credibility within the national ecosystem.
Globally, the economic value of open-source software is estimated at $8.8 trillion, underscoring corporate reliance and community impact. UK-based contributions involve large volumes of projects across sectors including fintech, public services, and sustainability.
Recruiters often examine GitHub activity, pull request merges, issue participation, and shared documentation, as real indicators of capability. Contributors enjoy 38 percent higher odds of landing interviews and are seen as more self-motivated and team-ready. For Skilled Worker Visa documentation, linking to verified contributions adds weight to claims of professional competence, even beyond formal job history.
Game Development
Building games, whether simple JavaScript puzzles or Unity prototypes, demonstrates end-to-end skills: software design, iteration, performance optimisation, and UX thinking. In academic literature and recruitment forums, gaming projects are cited for fostering problem-solving, persistence, and collaboration skills valuable to employers.
UK tech recruiters find that code samples coupled with playable demos on GitHub or personal portfolios stand out. Projects reflect critical thinking, creativity, and deeper engagement than coding coursework alone.
Tech Blogging and Content Creation
Documenting your journey through tech blogs or articles shows not only subject knowledge but the ability to communicate complex topics effectively. Employers value candidates who can bridge technical detail with narrative clarity, especially for roles involving client interfacing or team collaboration.
Blog metrics, like readership, shares, or quality feedback, provide measurable impact. For skilled worker visa applications, a well-maintained blog adds credibility and depth to claims of active engagement in the field.
Hackathons, Projects & Community Engagement
Participation in hackathons or volunteering to teach workshops signals adaptability, leadership, and teamwork, traits highly regarded in both visa assessment and tech recruitment. Many UK companies sponsor or engage with coding boot camps and local meetups. Demonstrating involvement in such ecosystems supports both employability and integration narratives.
CV Guidance for the UK Skilled Worker Visa
To align with SWV requirements, structure your CV in a compact, focused format (1–3 pages ideally), including:
Personal statement that incorporates hobby-based achievements:
“Contributor to cloud-native open-source projects with 25 merged pull requests; author of technical blog with 5,000 monthly readers; built and published two browser games demonstrating iterative architecture and UX design.” Use concrete metrics alongside URLs where possible.
Projects section should detail:
- Project name and description
- Technologies, contributions made, teammates or collaborators
- Impact (e.g. downloads, issues resolved, blog views)
Ensure your listed role aligns with the Jobs Code Classification for SWV eligibility (e.g. Software Developer 2139 code) and include your salary, sponsor license details, and CoS number in supporting documentation. For Further Information you can always check out Fortray’s CV Templates Bank.
Tangible outputs such as GitHub links, game demos, blog posts, and hackathon certificates should be referenced in the CV or an appendix for review. This evidence reinforces the narrative of a proactive and technically engaged candidate.
- UK tech employment reached 2.13 million in 2023, but tech job adverts have dropped by 70 percent since early 2020.
- The UK tech sector continues to grow in scale and wage levels, with new roles offering six-figure salaries in leading tech regions.
- Employers increasingly favour skill-based hiring over formal degrees, citing 23 percent wage premium for AI skills compared to weak degree premiums.
- Visa rule changes effective July 2025 raise salary thresholds from £26,200 to £38,700, affecting many early-career tech applicants.
Final Thoughts
In the UK’s increasingly rigorous Skilled Worker Visa framework, adding hobbies like open-source contributions, personal coding projects, game development, tech blogging, and community teaching can transform your CV. These aren’t just hobbies; they showcase initiative, a commitment to learning, collaboration, and the ability to make an impact. You’re no longer just a qualified candidate; you’re someone actively shaping the future of technology.
Fortray’s expert-led bootcamps are designed to help you align your skills and projects with what UK tech employers are looking for. If you’re targeting a local tech role, we’re here to back your ambition with strategy, structure, and real results.
