#002 7 Things NOT To Include On Your Resume And Why

Are you ever stuck in a situation in which you think whether to include something on your resume? If so, then this article is for you.

I am going to show you the top 7 things that are unnecessary and why they should not be in your resume

With that being said, let’s get started.

The number 1 thing that you should never do is to write a generic resume. What I mean by that is when you try to jot down a variety of different skills you have experienced in on your resume. Rather, your resume should be tweaked and targeted to one position that you’d like to apply for. So, include only those skills which are specific to that position.

But it doesn’t mean you list something that you have never worked on. Be genuine and specific. The reason I am highlighting this is because recruiters are looking for people who are qualified for one specific role, so you need to focus your resume on one specific job and not try to make it all things to all people. To be honest, a one-size-fits-all resume is not appreciated and in turn, it results in few to no interview calls by recruiters.

The 2^nd thing is not to write your resume in the third or the first person. By that I mean do not use your name or personal pronouns such as I, me, she, or he to describe your professional experience. Your name comes only once on your resume that is at the top of your resume, which makes obvious that everything else on your resume is about you. So, instead of writing full sentences with a subject, use bullet points with action words such as achieved, earned, led, managed, and so forth.

Instead of saying:

o Sara has over nine years of business and technical experience in a software industry.

o She specializes in the modernization, management, design, and development of scalable web and mobile applications.

You should say:

o Over nine years of business and technical experience in a software industry

o Specialization in the modernization, management, design, and development of scalable web and mobile applications

Further down,

The no. 3 thing that you should not include in your resume are Personal details

There's no need to include personal information on a resume such as your head-shot, marital status, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, or date of birth. Unless these things are relevant to the job you're targeting, they don’t belong to your resume. The reason I am saying so, is because, these details might lead to unconscious biases and can work against you. So, I would say just avoid them!

Moving on to the 4th thing that you should not include is Inactive or Irrelevant links in your resume.

I remember the time when I was going over one of the resumes where a candidate was a developer and had put his GitHub profile on it. For those who don’t know, GitHub is a community of techies. I was curious to see how active he was on GitHub. So, when I clicked on his profile, to my surprise, it had No activity. He just created it and left it as it is.

Long story short, doing such things can backfire on you. So, it’s always better to leave such links off your resume. Make sure whatever links you add, depending on your line of work, should add some value and reflect why you're qualified for the job.

Next, the 5^th thing that should not go in your resume is objective statement

Do not include an “Objective Statement” in your resume as recruiters are more interested to know what you can bring to the table rather than what you’re looking for.

Plus, Objective Statements are too generic to add any value to the position you are applying for and because of that they have “No place” in resumes these days.

Instead of saying:

Seeking a development position with opportunities for growth and achievement. (Generic)

You should write a specific Job title and a Professional summary that highlight your skills which are directly related to the position you are applying for.

Such as

.Net Full Stack Senior Developer

Agile certified Software Development professional with 8+ years’ experience in .Net full stack development with a focus on enterprise level systems

However, if you are an intern or a recent grad and if you are specific about your career needs, then write something like this:

Your highest Education + Position you are seeking

For example: MS in Computer Science: Seeking opportunity in Data Analytics

Further moving down to the 6^th thing which you should not add in your resume is Salary History

Telling your current or previous salary in your resume is not a great job-search strategy. Because, if you include accurate information, then you might get low-balled when it comes to your starting salary with a new employer. On the other hand, if you exaggerate your past earnings, then you might risk getting yourself caught in a lie. Instead, do yourself a favor and do not include this type of information in your resume.

This brings me to the final 7^th thing that doesn’t have a place on your resume is References

Do not include a list of references or the line “References available upon request” on your resume. This information is not really required at this initial stage of the hiring process. It simply wastes resume space. Plus, employers presume you already have references. They will ask you for them when you are through with all the interview rounds.

With that, now you have 7 things which have NO PLACE on your resume.

If you are still confused about any other things whether they should be on your resume, let me know at nikita.mehrotra@therecruitmentinsights.com. I’d love to help.