30 things on your resume you need to get rid of right away

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you want to get a good job, you need not only relevant skills, but also a resume that sets you apart from the rest of the candidates. Check your resume for a couple of items from our list.

According to the CareerBuilder website, hiring managers receive an average of 75 resumes from applicants per position. They don’t have time to scrutinize each list of merit, and you have about 6 seconds to impress. This means that a correct resume should include only the most important information. And we will get rid of all that is superfluous right now.

1. Objectives

If you've submitted your resume, it's obvious that your goal is to get a job. So it's not worth writing about it. There is only one exception (and this is a rare case): if you suddenly decide to change the field of activity, you need to explain why you are doing this.

2. Inappropriate work experience

Yes, you may have been the "consummate milkshake maker" at a restaurant where you worked part-time in high school. But if you're not going to maintain that title in your new job, now is the time to get rid of the junk on your resume.

As Alyssa Gelbard, career expert and founder of Resume Strategists, notes, it’s worth including inappropriate work experience on a resume only if it demonstrates additional skills or abilities that might be useful to you in your new position.

3. Personal information

Do not include marital status or religious beliefs in your resume. This may have been a standard item in the past. But in reality, this information does not in any way concern your employer.

4. Hobbies

Nobody cares. If your hobby has nothing to do with the job you are applying for, information about it is a waste of page space and reader time.

5. Blatant lie

CareerBuilder interviewed over 2,000 recruiters to find out what was the most memorable lie. One candidate claimed to be the former CEO of the company he was trying to get a job with. Another mentioned that he is a Nobel laureate. Another convinced him that he graduated from a college that never existed.

Rosemary Haefner, head of recruiting at CareerBuilder, says such lies are "stupid attempts to compensate for 100% non-compliance with the employer's requirements." Haefner advises focusing on the skills you have to offer, rather than those you don't.

HR managers are more tolerant than they might seem. About 42% of employers say they agree to consider a candidate who meets at least three of the five key requirements.

6. Age

If you do not want to be discriminated against because of your age, remove this line mercilessly.

7. Too much text

If your resume has fields of half a centimeter and the entire text is typed in 8 point size so that all the information fits on one page, this is a failure. The resume should have a lot of air and a legible font.

8. Free time

If you have not worked for some time, for example for family reasons or to see the world, it is better not to include this information in your resume. Some companies will take this with understanding, but some employers may be alarmed by the fact that you left your previous job, say, to travel.

9. Recommendations

If someone wants information from your previous jobs or your school, you will be told. That is, if at the end of your resume you write "Recommendations on request", you are simply wasting valuable space.

And yes, don't forget to alert people who can give you referrals about calling your prospective employer.

10. Heterogeneous formatting

The look of your resume is just as important as the content. The best format is the one that is convenient to use. It is important that the manager can easily find your skills and verify that you meet the employer's requirements. Once you've decided on the format, stick to it. For example, style all dates on your resume the same way.

11. Personal pronouns

The resume should not contain the words "I", "me", "she", "mine" and so on. Everyone understands that everything here is connected with you and your experience.

12. Present tense proposals for past work

Never describe your past experience using present tense constructs. In the present tense, you can only talk about the current work.

13. Unprofessional email

Stop using the old email address like [email protected] or [email protected]. Start a new mail and don't bother with the name too much: your last name will do. It only takes a couple of minutes.

14. Any unnecessary, obvious words

There is no need to write the word "phone" in front of your number. This is silly! Obviously, this is a phone number. The same applies to "email".

15. Title elements, footers, tables, pictures and graphs

Bizarre insertions like these will elicit only one reaction from hiring managers: "Are you serious?"

Of course, a well-formatted resume with interesting images and graphics can add a couple of points and increase your credibility. But there is a danger that such a resume may not go through the automated recruitment system, which large companies have often begun to use lately. And even if you are the perfect candidate, there is a small chance that your resume will not make it to the HR manager's desk.

Plus, if you're not applying for a job as a designer, illustrator, or creative professional, your resume might look odd. So think carefully before creating your original list.

16. Contacts of your current place of work

It's not just dangerous, it's stupid. Are you sure you want potential employers to call your office? And by the way, your current boss can view corporate emails and calls to work numbers. So, if you don't want to be fired in disgrace, leave your work contact details with you.

17. Your boss's name

Do not include your boss's name on your resume unless you are 100% sure that he will not mind talking to your potential employers. And in general, it makes sense to refer to him only if his name is known in your field and deserves attention.

18. The specific professionalism of your company

Make sure your resume does not contain words that only you and your colleagues can understand. It's about the names of software, technologies and processes that have taken root in your company.

19. Links to personal pages in social networks

Links to boring blogs, Pinterest or Instagram don't add any value to your resume. Candidates who believe in the value of personal social media accounts are more likely to get rejected. But be sure to include links to pages related to your professional activity, such as LinkedIn, in your resume.

20. More than 15 years of experience

When you start to include pre-2000 jobs in your resume, the manager loses interest. Indicate relevant experience that will really come in handy in a new place: this is what recruiting specialists are interested in. The same applies to course certificates.

21. Information about the salary

Some job seekers include information about how much they received in their previous job. This is completely superfluous information, which, moreover, can send the employer the wrong signal that salary is most important to you in your work. How much you want to receive is also not worth writing. The resume is intended primarily to demonstrate your professional experience and skills. Discuss the salary issue during the interview.

22. Outdated fonts

Don't use Times New Roman and similar serif fonts: they look old-fashioned. Any standard sans serif font will work: Arial or Helvetica. And be sure to consider the size. The main thing is that the text not only looks nice and modern, but also easy and convenient to read.

23. Fancy fonts

Some job seekers want their résumé to be unusual, so they go all out and use a variety of quirky and supposedly funny fonts. Believe me, such resumes are not easy to read and the recruiter will most likely just put your creation aside.

24. Annoying words

CareerBuilder also found out which expressions are most likely to fail. The list includes the following words and phrases: "best of its kind", "purposeful", "thinking outside the box", "teamwork" and "pleasant to talk to." There are words that employers like to see in the resume, albeit in moderation: “achieved”, “succeeded”, “solved the problem”, “launched”.

25. Reasons why you left your previous job

Job seekers sometimes think that a detailed explanation of the reasons for leaving the job will increase their chances of getting a new position. This is not the case: the time and place are not the most appropriate. If it seems important to you or the employer, you can discuss it during the interview.

26. Your grades

After you graduated from high school and university, your grades have lost their relevance. If you cannot boast with honors or at least good academic performance, forget about them.

27. Reasons why you want to get this job

This is the difference between a resume and a cover letter. A resume is not a place for a lengthy explanation of why you are the perfect fit for the job or why you need the job. A list of your skills, work experience and qualifications should do this for you. If they don't, then your resume is in bad shape, or you've taken on a job that is beyond your capacity at the moment.

28. Photography

Perhaps someday in the future this will become the norm. But today it looks strange, if not tasteless or even repulsive.

29. Opinions, not facts

Do not try to sell yourself more expensive, ascribing to yourself a variety of subjective assessments. “Effectively communicating information to others”, “highly organized and motivated” is just an opinion, not a real fact, which means it is not necessarily true. Recruiters only want facts. They will decide if these grades are right for you after they interview you.

30. Short-term employment

Don't include in your resume information about temporary jobs or places you were kicked out of or didn't like.