Your resume is often the first thing recruiters and hiring managers will review to determine if you should move forward in the application process. Your resume should be 1-2 pages and clearly represent your experience, education and skills. Often, candidates include unnecessary information in their resumes that should be left out. Here are 7 things you can drop from your resume right now.
References
There is no need to list references or to state they are available upon request. Most companies will do a background check. If you have references, you can discuss during the interview.
Month & Dates
The experience section of the resume should be in reverse chronological order with the most recent jobs listed first. Include the year but feel free to exclude the month and exact dates. This avoids obvious gaps in your employment history and will actually make your resume look cleaner.
Irrelevant Experience
Feel free to exclude earlier jobs that aren’t relevant to the position you’re seeking. That means leave off the summer job working at Wendy’s that you had in high school. The exception is the job that might add another dimension to your experience. Be prepared to share the story in STAR format during the interview.
Hobbies
Unless you’re going for a job related to your hobby, leave them out.
Unprofessional Email Addresses
Recruiters may overlook but hiring managers may not. If you have a cutesy personal email address you’ve been using with family and friends consider getting a more professional email address. It’s free! Get a simple name based email address at outlook.com or gmail.com.
Overstated experience and skills
Also consider removing any untrue statements from your resume. Employers will do a background check and continue to keep your resume on file. Be honest about your experience and skills. During your interview, you can be asked about anything on your resume.
Personal Information
There is no need to include information that might lead to discrimination. Leave out mentions of religion, politics and age unless its relevant to the specific job you’re applying and strengthens your candidacy.
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