7 Things You Need to Leave Off Your Resume

7 Things You Need to Leave Off Your Resume

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Profile Picture

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We are in the day and age where profile pictures are everywhere we go. Your profile picture says a lot about you, whether you are on Facebook, LinkedIn, or even TikTok. However, when it comes to your resume, it is best to not include it. Adding your profile picture to your resume can be seen as unprofessional and can take away from the content of your resume. It is important that you always present yourself in a professional manner when applying for jobs, so it’s best to avoid adding any profile pictures or avatars to your resume. You want employers to focus on your skills and qualifications, not how you look.

Irrelevant Work Experience

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The most common mistake we see on candidate resumes is that they include all their work experience. Including all your work experience can be good in some cases if all of your work is relevant to the position you are applying for. However, if you are applying for an Engineering role, adding your experience working as a dishwasher in high school is just wasting valuable space on your resume.

Misspelling & Errors

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77% of employers will immediately reject a resume if it has a typo or grammatical errors. Spelling errors will show potential employers that you either have poor writing skills or are too lazy to review your work.

Paragraphs

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Resumes are designed for recruiters or hiring managers to skim before setting up an interview. It will be nearly impossible to skim a resume that has long paragraphs without bullet points. Bullet points are a great way to show your job requirements in a short, easy-to-read sentence. Paragraphs usually require more work for employers or recruiters, causing many to ‘give up’ and move onto another candidate’s resume.

Personal Information

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Personal information is different from contact information. Contact information includes name, email, address, and phone number. Personal information can be height, gender, age, and religion. Remember that employers cannot decide to hire a candidate based on personal information. Therefore, adding this information is a waste of time for you and the recruiter reviewing your resume.

Hobbies & Interests

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Employers do not want to learn about your hobbies or interests on your resume. Your resume should only include things that show your ability to succeed at the company. Your Fantasy Football interest is not something that will help you succeed at most companies (Unless you are applying to job openings at DraftKings or FanDuel).

References

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References are essential when it comes to your job search. A list of references can make or break your chance at receiving a job offer. However, reference checks are the FINAL step in the hiring process. The hiring process starts with submitting your resume, doing a quick phone interview, an in-person or virtual interview, then reference checks. Why would you submit your references on the first step of the process when it is the last thing employers look at? Make sure to take those references off your resume and create a separate document for your references. Then, wait to send your references to an employer until you are asked to send them. Also, do not add Reference Available Upon Request to your resume.

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