Hiring managers receive an average
of 75 resume per position they post, according toCareerBuilder.com.
So they don‘t
have the time or resources to review each one closely, and they spend
approximately six seconds on their initial “fit/no
fit” decision.
If you
want to make it past the initial test, you need to have some solid
qualifications — and the perfect resume to highlight those qualifications.
Here are
29 things you should never include on your resume.
1. An objective.
If you applied, it’s already
obvious you want the job.
The exception: If you’re in a unique situation, such as changing
industries completely, it may be useful to include a brief summary.
2.
Irrelevant work experiences.
Yes, you might have been the “king
of making milkshakes” at the restaurant you worked for in high school. But
unless you are planning on redeeming that title, it is time to get rid of all
that clutter.
However, as
Alyssa Gelbard, career expert and founder of career-consulting firm Résumé Strategists, points out: Past work
experience that might not appear
to be directly relevant to the job at hand might show another dimension, depth,
ability, or skill that actually is relevant or applicable.
Only include this experience if it really showcases additional
skills that can translate to the position you’re applying for.
3.
Personal stuff.
Don’t include your marital status,
religious preference, or social security number.
This might
have been the standard in the past, but all of this information is now illegal
for your employer to ask from you; so there’s no need to include it.
4. Your
hobbies.
Nobody cares.
If it’s
not relevant to the job you’re applying for, it’s a waste of space and a waste
of the company’s time.
5.
Blatant lies.
A CareerBuilder survey asked 2,000 hiring managers for
memorable resume mistakes, and blatant lies were a popular choice. One
candidate claimed to be the former CEO of the company to which he was applying,
another claimed to be a Nobel Prize winner, and one more claimed he
attended a college that didn’t exist.
Rosemary Haefner, chief
human resources officer at CareerBuilder, says these lies may be “misguided attempts to compensate for lacking
10o% of the qualifications specified in the job posting.”
However, Haefner says candidates should concentrate on the
skills they can offer, rather than the skills they can’t offer.
“Hiring
managers are more forgiving than job seekers may think,” Haefner explains.
“About 42% of employers surveyed said they would consider a candidate who met
only three out of five key qualifications for a specific role.”
6. Your
age.
If you don’t want to be
discriminated against for a position because of your age, it’s time to remove
your graduation date, says Catherine Jewell, author of “New
Résumé, New Career.”
Another surprising
way your resume could give away your age: double spaces after a
period.
When you use a 0.5 inch margin and
eight-point font in an effort to get everything to fit on one page, this is an
“epic fail,” says J.T. O’Donnell, a career and workplace expert, founder of
career-advice site Careerealism.com,
and author of “Careerealism: The Smart Approach to a Satisfying Career.”
She
recommends lots of white space and no more than a 0.8 margin.
8. Time
off.
If you took time
off to travel or raise a family, Gelbard doesn’t recommend including that information on
your resume. “In some countries, it is acceptable to include this information,
especially travel, but it is not appropriate to include that in the body of a
resume in the US.”
9.
References.
If your employers want to speak to
your references, they’ll ask you. Also, it’s better if you have a chance to
tell your references ahead of time that a future employer might be calling.
If you
write “references upon request” at the bottom of your resume, you’re merely
wasting a valuable line, career coach Eli Amdur says.
10.
Inconsistent formatting.
The format of your resume is just
as important as its content, says Amanda Augustine, a career management expert.
She
says the best format is the format that will make it easiest for the
hiring manager to scan your resume and still be able to pick out your key
qualifications and career goals.
Once you
pick a format, stick with it. If you write the day, month, and year for one date,
then use that same format throughout the rest of the resume.
11.Personal pronouns.
Your resume shouldn’t include the
words “I,” “me,” “she,” or “my,” says Tina
Nicolai, executive career coach and founder of Resume Writers’ Ink.
“Don’t
write your resume in the third or first person. It’s understood that everything
on your resume is about you and your experiences.”
12.
Present tense for a past job.
Never describe
past work experience using the present tense. Only your current job should be
written in the present tense, Gelbard says.
13. A
less-than-professional email address.
If you still use an old email
address, like BeerLover123@gmail.com or CuteChick4life@yahoo.com, it’s time to
pick a new one.
It only
takes a minute or two, and it’s free.
14. Any
unnecessary, obvious words.
Amdur says there is no reason to
put the word “phone” in front of the actual number.
“It’s
pretty silly. They know it’s your phone number.” The same rule applies to
email.
15.
Headers and footers, tables, images, or charts.
These fancy embeddings will have
hiring managers thinking, “Could you not?”
While a
well-formatted header and footer may look professional, and some cool tables,
images, or charts may boost your credibility, they also confuse the applicant
tracking systems that companies use nowadays, Augustine tells Business Insider.
The system
will react by scrambling up your resume and spitting out a poorly-formatted
one that may no longer include your header or charts. Even if you were an
ideal candidate for the position, now the hiring manager has no way to contact
you for an interview.
16. Your current business contact info.
16. Your current business contact info.
Amdur writes at Northjersey.com:
This is
not only dangerous; it’s stupid. Do you really want employers calling you at
work? How are you going to handle that? Oh, and by the way, your current
employer can monitor your emails and phone calls. So if you’re not in the mood
to get fired, or potentially charged with theft of services (really), then
leave the business info off.
17. Your
boss’s name.
Don’t include
your boss’s name on your resume unless you’re OK with your potential
employer contacting him or her. Even then, Gelbard says the only reason your
boss’s name should be on your resume is if the person is someone
noteworthy, and if it would be really impressive.
18.
Company-specific jargon.
“Companies often
have their own internal names for things like customized software,
technologies, and processes that are only known within that organization and
not by those who work outside of it,” Gelbard says. “Be
sure to exclude terms on your resume that are known only to one specific
organization.”
19.
Social media URLs that are not related to the targeted position.
Links to your opinionated blogs,
Pinterest page, or Instagram account have no business taking up prime resume
real estate. “Candidates who tend to think their personal social media sites
are valuable are putting themselves at risk of landing in the ‘no’ pile,”
Nicolai says.
“But you should list relevant
URLs, such as your LinkedIn page or any others that are professional
and directly related to the position you are trying to acquire,” she says.
20. More
than 15 years of experience.
When you start including jobs from
before 2000, you start to lose the hiring manager’s interest.
Your most
relevant experience should be from the past 15 years, so hiring managers only
need to see that, Augustine says.
On the
same note, never include dates on education and certifications that are older
than 15 years.
21.Salary information.
“Some people include past hourly
rates for jobs they held in college,” Nicolai says. This information is
completely unnecessary and may send the wrong message.
Amy Hoover, president of Talent Zoo, says you also shouldn’t
address your desired salary in a resume. “This document is intended to showcase
your professional experience and skills. Salary comes later in the
interview process.”
22.
Outdated fonts.
“Don’t use Times New Roman and
serif fonts, as they’re outdated and old-fashioned,” Hoover says. “Use a standard, sans-serif font like Arial.”
Also, be aware of the font size, she says. Your goal should be
to make it look nice and sleek — but also easy to read.
23.
Fancy fonts.
Curly-tailed fonts are also a turn off,
according to O’Donnell. “People try to make their résumé look
classier with a fancy font, but studies show they are harder to read and the
recruiter absorbs less about you.”
24.
Annoying buzzwords.
CareerBuilder asked 2,201
US hiring managers: “What resume terms are the biggest turnoffs?” They cited
words and phrases such as, “best of breed,” “go-getter,” “think outside the
box,” “synergy,” and “people pleaser.”
Terms
employers do like to see on resumes include: “achieved,” “managed,” “resolved,” and
“launched” — but only if they’re used in moderation.
25.
Reasons you left a company or position.
Candidates often think, “If I
explain why I left the position on my resume, maybe my chances will improve.”
“Wrong,” Nicolai says. “Listing why you left is irrelevant on
your resume. It’s not the time or place to bring up transitions from one
company to the next.”
Use your interview to address this.
26. Your
GPA.
Once you’re out of school, your
grades aren’t so relevant.
If you’re a new college graduate and your GPA was a 3.8 or
higher — it’s OK to leave it. But, if you’re more than three years out of
school, or if your GPA was lower than a 3.8, ditch it.
27. A
photo of yourself.
This may become
the norm at some point in the future, but it’s just weird (and tacky and
distracting) for now.
28.
Opinions, not facts.
Don’t try to sell
yourself by using all sorts of subjective words to describe yourself, O’Donnell
says. “I’m an excellent communicator” or “highly organized and motivated” are
opinions of yourself and not necessarily the truth. “Recruiters want facts
only. They’ll decide if you are those things after they meet you,” she says.
29.
Short-term employment.
Avoid including a
job on your resume if you only held the position for a
very short period of time, Gelbard says. You should especially avoid including
jobs you were let go from or didn’t like.
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