When you’re writing a resume, you’re not writing your autobiography. It is simply unnecessary to include every little detail of your work history. What the resume should be is a marketing tool: a “sales brochure” about you. Their role is to get you a job interview. Therefore, it is important that you be careful about what you include in your resume, as well as what you choose to leave out.
The following things should never be included in the vast majority of resumes:
1. Dates that indicate your age. Age discrimination is too obvious and can work against you. You can avoid showing your age by omitting the year of graduation and not including all of your work experience. Instead, include only the most recent and most relevant to the position. If the position requires a substantial amount of experience, it may be appropriate to disclose your age, but if you’re unsure, avoid this issue.
2. Hobbies. The only time the list of hobbies can be relevant is if they relate specifically to your career choice. If you indicate that you have many interests, it may suggest that you may be distracted from your work. This space is more suitable for showing off your skills. There may be time in the interview to discuss hobbies – this is the best forum to show how well-rounded you are as a person.
3. “References available upon request.” This is a waste of time as most job application forms will include a section where you can list your references. A better use of space would be to discuss job specific information.
4. Generic and vague objectives. Goals like “…get a challenging position at (company name)” say nothing to the recruiter. Instead, you should tailor the objective statement to the particular position, perhaps using a skills summary or career summary.
5. Short-term jobs. Most employers will shy away from prospective employees who have had many short-term jobs, as they want someone who will last long enough to recoup the money spent on training. Don’t include jobs you’ve only had for a few months. If you have completed multiple assignments with an agency, list the agency as the employer for each assignment. Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to list all of your employers when you fill out the job application and any issues can be addressed at the interview stage.
6. Grade point average. After a few years, the GPA loses its relevance. The exception to this are positions where education is emphasized. Even in this case, if you didn’t achieve a high GPA, don’t include it.
7. Omit any reference to your religion, gender, sexual preference, political party, or anything else that could be construed as remotely controversial.
8. More experience than the job requires. If the job requires 5 years of experience, make sure the resume indicates 5 years of experience. It would be a waste of space to list 20 years of experience, especially since most of it is irrelevant to the position. You may list additional experience, but only after you have listed the most relevant experience. If your resume gets long, get rid of “extra” employment information that doesn’t relate to the specific position.
9. High school information. If you have college degrees, your high school degrees are not required. The only exception to this rule is if you attended a well-known or well-respected high school, and mention of your attendance might give you additional credibility. Be careful that this does not cause problems with the recruiter, who may not have attended the same school and may not share your positive experiences. If you have not attended college, please refer to this section as “Training” and list any job training or post-school qualifications you have obtained.
10. Anything negative. This is an obvious problem. Never, under any circumstances, include anything on your resume that could be construed as negative. Remember, the point of a resume is to get you a job interview, not prevent you from reaching that milestone.