Your resume has the power to make or break your candidacy on the spot. That said, savvy job seekers correctly focus tremendous attention on the pertinent experience and details necessary to include in this document. They perfect their wording, spell-check and invite others to proofread it before sending it off to prospective employers.
However, oftentimes, there are things worth leaving off of a resume, as such information may be irrelevant, overextending, or too personal and end up working against your attractiveness as a candidate.
Here are the most important things that you should never include on your resume:
1. Out-of-bounds objectives. Your objective statement should be brief, clearly defined, and focus on how you would benefit an employer, not the other way around. Be careful not to be too specific here about your desired job position, so as not to reduce your options. However, avoid sounding too vague, such as stating you’re, “Seeking a challenging role,” as you haven’t yet defined your skills and worthiness of the position.
2. Unrelated job experience. Yes, you may have spent the summer of sophomore year in college working as a party mascot for kids’ parties, but unless lots of dancing, hugging and non-stop peppiness are part of the job description you’re vying for, it may serve you better to exclude this stint.
3. Odd hobbies. It may actually help you to list personal hobbies that are directly relevant to your professional field and corporate culture. But, mentioning your passion for drinking, hacking, witchcraft, or collecting firearms is likely irrelevant and may raise some eyebrows or completely put off employer prospects.
4. Improper or outdated email address. You have one chance to make a first impression with your resume. There’s no room for careless mistakes such as providing an old or invalid email address, or an inappropriate one, such as, “sexyone@…”.
5. High school background. Unless you are a very recent high-school graduate applying for an entry-level job in the hospitality industry, Information from this period of your life is unnecessary and should never appear on a resume. However, if you accomplished extraordinary things during this time of life, such as earning a full-ride scholarship or starting a successful business venture in high school, it may be worth including such highlights.
6. Personal business. Don’t offer up things like your age, marital status, ethnicity or race, sexual preference, or religious affiliation. It’s unlawful for your employer to inquire about such information (and you could be discriminated against if you provide it).
7. (Very) early job experience. Don’t list positions unrelated to the hospitality industry that you held over fifteen years or more in the past, as it may come across as out-of-use and you risk losing a recruiter’s interest.
8. Full-blown lies. Honesty is the best policy on resumes. Focus on skills you possess, instead of on those you cannot offer. A recruiter’s due diligence process will uncover falsehoods and render you deceitful and fast-track your resume to the trash.
9. Erratic formatting. Adhere to one, consistent resume format, which can be reviewed quickly and easily, while accentuating your core qualifications and objectives. Formatting mistakes are annoying to hiring managers and will definitely reflect poorly on your organization skills and attention to detail.
10. Extra formatting. Headers, charts, tables, and images have no place on a resume. Additionally, such inserts may throw off resume tracking systems, and in some cases, such systems can jumble and disorganize your resume altogether.
11. Present work contact info. It’s unwise to state your current work phone number or address as your primary contact information on your resume or job application. Your workplace is not the setting to take in calls from prospective new employers. Even if your current employer knows you’re leaving and supports your move, it’s still always better to provide your personal email and phone number to new companies.
12. Salary information: Unless a potential employer asks for it explicitly at this stage of the screening/hiring process, your resume should never offer your current or past salary or benefits information.