Anything to declare?

How much should you tell your boss? Natalie Boxall meets graduates who have learned the hard way how to juggle their day job with a more exciting sideline

Christina McDermott found out all about the lost art of keeping a secret when working for social services in London. "I've freelanced as a music journalist since I was 18, and when I started temping after leaving university, what I did outside of work really started to matter to me. When I was asked to cover music festivals, numerous family members of mine 'died' so I could get time off work with no questions asked, and then I started DJing and putting on my own club night.

"I was a bit naughty and did most of the organising for the club from my desk when I should have been doing other things of immense importance, like filing, ordering stationery and placating the whims of the over-65s.

"I tried to keep it quiet, but my boss got a little suspicious, as I kept running off to the photocopier to produce batches of homemade flyers, so he got a printout of my total internet usage, which ran to very many pages and I had all my internet privileges taken away from me."

So, did this punishment make her more honest? "It was almost worth it to hear him say: 'Christina ... you appear to have been running a ... Club Mental from your desk?', but in my next job, I was honest from the interview stage about my club and writing. Thankfully, it's never proved to be an issue as it shows I have good time management and organisational skills, which are characteristics that employers appear to be very keen on."

Liz Hagger, e-guidance manager at Prospects, thinks that employees are right to keep some things private. "I can't see any reason why your employer should be entitled to know what you get up to in your spare time, but a conflict of interest might mean that an employee is unable to give impartial advice, or they could be gathering ideas and will set up their own rival business in the future."

So, how honest should you be when applying for your first graduate job? "The greater the amount of varied experience and skills that you can demonstrate, the more the employer is likely to be impressed with your knowledge and the effort that you have put in.

"However, you need to think about listing experience that employers might consider inappropriate, like extreme political activity that might be against an employer's interests, but the most important thing is that for anything you declare, you can say what you actually did and why you enjoyed it or not."

Sound advice, but what if you're too honest? Daniel Cooke, a charity administrator from London learned the error of being open about his hobbies.

"I act and play in a band in my spare time and when I've told people about it, instead of it being a positive thing, people at work pestered me for my autograph in case I got on TV, and potential employers haven't hired me being worried I'd leave as soon as an acting opportunity arrived, so I tend not to mention it now."

Isn't it hard keeping the "real" you a secret? "You judge who you divulge things to, as some people you know won't understand your 'strange' ideas, but generally I think it's good to keep some things separate as you could become a bit of a joke if your creative side isn't a success. Also, if your employer doesn't know that you're in a band, you can take sick days to go on a short tour and save your holidays for you."

Frances Calvey decided to be upfront about her hobbies when she worked as a clerical officer at a north-east hospital after graduation.

"I've had friends who have ended up in awkward situations when colleagues have used private conversations against them at work, so I just mentioned things like yoga, to show I was health-conscious and would be less likely to be off sick, and hoped that my love of socialising would prove that I could interact well with people.

"I was a bit dishonest about my love of travel though, as although I wanted the job, but I didn't want the interviewer to think that I wouldn't stick around for very long, so I just mentioned it in the past tense."

Michael Shackleton from Leeds wasn't completely honest about his outside interests when he joined an IT graduate training scheme. "I'd just left university and was back living with my parents, so I embellished a few things, because the only other experience I had on my CV were bar jobs.

"I included an interest in art and world cinema and got away with it, but it made me realise I needed to develop my life outside of work, so I started contributing to the Middlesbrough FC fanzine, and, through that, I'm now a regular cohost on a football programme on BBC Radio Cleveland."

So, how have potential employers reacted to his new life outside of work? "I changed companies about 16 months ago, and the fact that I had radio work and fanzine writing on my CV gave me something different to talk about during my interview.

"I'd say it's a lot more difficult to present yourself as a rounded person when you apply for your first job because you're still wet behind the ears. But, as time goes by, the fact that I have a life has proved to be an advantage.

"I enjoy the activities I do outside of work more than the ones I do nine to five, but my bosses are more than happy with my work, and they're helping me to make my hours more flexible so I can keep going up to Middlesbrough from Leeds to do the show."