Employers receive tons of resumes and they are looking for specific information related to a specific job. Resumes that include unnecessary information will cause that resume to be put at the bottom of the pile or worse, thrown in the trash. Here is a list of items to leave out of your resume. It saves you time and makes your resume look more impressive.
1. Forget the photos. Unless you are applying for a modeling or acting job, don’t include pictures. It may give the employer misleading impressions or the employer can come to inaccurate perceptions.
2. Salary requirements. Unless the employer requests this information, leave it out. You can undermine yourself by asking for too much or too little.
3. Reasons for leaving your jobs. Discuss this in the interview or on the application. Employers don’t need or have time to read this information up front.
4. References. Again, leave them out until asked for during the interview or on the application.
5. Empty assurances. Honest, dependable, hard working, etc. everyone thinks they possess these qualities. Make sure you can back it up with concrete evidence while explaining job duties and during the interview.
6. Explain gaps. Employers screen resumes thoroughly for employment gaps. Make sure you have a good explanation for them and explain any accomplishments you obtained during your gap. Simply stating you were trying to find yourself won’t work.
7. Leave out personal hobbies, interests, and information. Unless it pertains to the job or is related to a particular profession, there is no need to provide details into your personal life. Plus, you don’t want to come across as if the job will get in the way of your personal life. Also, never include personal identity information like age, race, or gender. It’s against the law to discriminate but you will never know if that really was the case if you never hear back from the employer.