Five Things You Should Immediately Remove from Your Resume

A plethora of advice is given regarding what to write in your resume, but rarely is there discussion about what should be removed. Peter Yang, an expert in crafting the perfect resume, who analyzes over a thousand of them annually and is the CEO of Resume Writing Services, has noted several things he considers ‘junk’ that should be eliminated from resumes immediately as they convey absolutely nothing about the candidate or, worse, diminish their chances of getting hired. As Young writes, if you want a CV that says – ‘yes, I am the perfect candidate for the position’, every word, every bullet or dash should be there for a reason. In this case, excess truly causes headaches:

Irrelevant Hobbies and Interests

To start, a ‘reality check’ – everyone has hobbies (or can easily make them up). If you write in your resume that you are an avid hiker or a passionate stamp collector, it does not make you special at all. Moreover, managers (unfortunately) do not care how you spend your free time, especially not at a moment when they are faced with a pile of resumes they must read by a set deadline. The only exceptions are cases where the hobby is related to the position you are applying for. For example, if you want a job in a financial institution, it is advisable to state that your hobby is cryptocurrencies. If you want to become a doctor, that hobby means nothing to you.

Too Many ‘Soft’ Skills

There is absolutely nothing wrong with ‘soft skills’, or immeasurable skills that define a candidate’s personality and speak to their problem-solving ability, teamwork, motivation, etc. However, candidates tend to exaggerate and indiscriminately throw ‘soft’ skills into their resumes that they think will appeal to managers. The result? All candidates look the same – they are all motivated, communicative, dedicated… Young advises candidates to list more ‘hard’ than ‘soft’ skills in their resumes and, if possible, to back up ‘soft’ skills with evidence. For example, ‘led successful projects that resulted in X percent growth’.

Photograph

Unless you are sending your resume for an audition for a film role, you should omit your photograph. Although local managers have not expressed their opinions on this matter, those who have worked with Young increasingly consider this practice unnecessary or, worse, tasteless. Additionally, the problem is that based on a photograph – how a person smiles, how they dress or wear makeup, judgments are made about the candidate (most often unconsciously) and their abilities. They can become biased, but also reject the candidate, which often turns out to be a mistake. Furthermore, a photograph in a CV can ’cause’ technical difficulties when opening or saving the document.

Personal Pronouns and Outdated Email

Although employers do not necessarily seek IT geniuses, a certain level of computer literacy is still necessary. This, among other things, means that outdated email addresses, such as those from Hotmail, should ‘fall out’ of the resume. Stick to Gmail or Outlook, and you won’t go wrong. On the other hand, you will go wrong if you frequently use the pronoun ‘I’. Since this is ‘your’ CV, there is no need to emphasize that further. Instead of ‘I led six teams’, just write ‘led six teams’. While it may seem like a minor detail, it can be irritating.

Positions Older than 10 or 15 Years

Unless you have just graduated or are a senior manager with a wealth of work experience, you should not list positions older than 10 or 15 years. The older a particular position is (unless it is a managerial role or similar to the job you are applying for), the less interesting it is to a potential employer. Instead, focus on details regarding recent positions and, of course, your achievements in them.

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