10 Things to Remove From Your Resume
The first impression of you that employers get is through your resume. Having your resume cluttered, inaccurate or irrelevant will immediately put you at a disadvantage when job hunting. To get employers to notice you for all the right reasons, here are 10 things you should remove from your resume:
1. Irrelevant Work or Education History
If the job you’re applying for has no relevance to a past job or education, for example if you’re applying for a job in finance but have a history in retail, it’s better to not include that in your resume. This is because you’ll be inviting more questions and potential rejection instead of the focus being on the more relevant aspects.
2. Outdated Contact Details
Make sure that you keep your contact details always up to date. The details that employers will be interested to know are:
- Current Phone Number
- Current E-mail Address
- Current Residential Address
3. Grammatical and Spelling Errors
Carelessness in your written language can look very bad to an employer. Therefore, you should always double-check your resume for any spelling or grammatical errors and make sure it is written using language that you’re comfortable with.
4. Jumbled-up Headings
Your resume should be presented in a neat and organized manner, especially when it comes to your headings. Many people fail to organize their headings into clear sections, like: ‘Work History’, ‘Education’, ‘Projects’, etc. This can make your resume look messy and confused.
5. Unnecessary Personal Information
Employers will have no interest in personal information like your age, gender, or marital status. All that matters to them is whether or not you have the skills and education for the job.
6. Objective Statement
There is no longer a need for an objective statement on your resume. These have become outdated, and employers are usually more interested in seeing a summary statement that outlines your qualifications and skills for the job you’re applying for.
7. Personal Interests
Unless your hobbies or personal interests are related to the job you’re applying for, you should remove them from your resume. Even if they are related, they should be mentioned briefly in the summary statement if you need to draw any attention to them.
8. Irrelevant Achievements
Relevant and recent achievements are good to emphasize on your resume. However, if the achievement is too far removed in the past, or too irrelevant to the job you’re applying to, then it’s best to remove them.
9. Exaggerated Claims
It’s important to not get too carried away with what you can or cannot do. It’s okay to add in some ‘soft skills’, but don’t exaggerate as it will only cause you problems down the line.
10. Improperly Formatted Photos
Many employers will not even consider candidates with improperly formatted photos or pictures on their resumes. Therefore, it’s important to make sure the photo is of a decent size, good quality, and responds to the job description.
By removing these 10 aspects of your resume, you can be sure that employers will view your resume favorably and that you’ll have a better chance of getting the job you want!
