Top 5 Things That Should Not Be on Your Resume
Posted November 13, 2013
By now you know that your resume is crucial to getting a new job. You should also know the new rules of resumes, such as limiting their length and creating a streamlined picture of who you are as an employee. Today’s resume is much more of a marketing tool than it is a biography of your professional life. So when you’re writing or revamping your resume, here are five things it should not include:
- Your Age—Or Anything That Gives It Away
Hiring managers aren’t interested in how old you are. They only want to know what you can do for them. If you have the experience and the skills they need, be sure your resume highlights that fact. And if you’re an older employee, avoid sharing any information that might lead to age discrimination, such as listing professional experience more than 15 years old or providing an exact number of years of professional experience in your opening summary.
- A List of Every Job You’ve Ever Had
Hiring managers want to see relevance more than anything else. You should highlight the work you’ve done in the past 10 to 15 years that will show an employer your fit for the job. Yes, if you’ve worked a job that’s irrelevant to the job you’re seeking, you’ll want to include it, but keep it brief and try to list only the accomplishments in that job that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.
- Too Much Information
Leave out personal information like your marital status, race, sexual orientation or hobbies, unless they are somehow essential to the job. The only personal details a potential employer needs to see are your name, city, state and contact information. And never include your Social Security number.
- Lists of Tasks or Duties Without Results
Hiring managers don’t want to see only which jobs you’ve done; they want to know what you’ve accomplished at them. And if you’re being compared to another candidate who’s equally qualified on paper, the one thing that can put you ahead is showing the results you’ve achieved.
- Explanations of Negative Events
You may have gotten fired, or left a job because you didn’t get along with your manager. Your resume is not the place to tell those stories. The purpose of your resume is to promote you, and as a promotional document it needs to focus on the positive. If you get an interview, you can explain yourself then—in the most positive terms possible!
When employers first look at your resume, they give it about 15 seconds of their time. They need to be able to see immediately that you might be the right person for the job. Leave off the unimportant information–if it doesn’t sell you, it shouldn’t be on your resume.
Any more questions about how to sell yourself to employers? Call or contact Team Ambassador. We have the answers!