What to Never Put on Your Resume

What to Never Put on Your Resume What to Never Put on Your Resume 4 Here are eight things you should avoid including on your resume:   1. High School Info Even if you’re fresh out of college and lacking additional educational experience, you shouldn’t include where you went to high school. If anything, an employer might be more impressed if you went to an Ivy League university. But your local high school? Not so much. Skip high school information and start your educational experience with college, technical schools, or the like. 2. References If an employer is interested in you, theyre going to ask you for references. That’s why there’s really no good reason to add in the line, “References available upon request.” Doing so could date your resume- and make you lose out on precious real estate that could be better utilized by adding in extra info in the skills or work experience sections. 3. Personal Info Employers aren’t allowed to ask any personal information during a job interview, so why should you offer it up on your resume? Don’t include your marital status, sexual orientation, religious or political affiliations, social security number, or anything else that doesn’t have a place on your professional resume. 4. Your Age Although you might not explicitly state your age on your resume, there are other ways that you might be revealing how old you actually are. For example, you might include the year you graduated college, or cite job experience that’s well over 30 years old. While employers can’t legally discriminate against a candidate because of their age, that’s not to say that it doesn’t happen. So look through your resume and see if you’ve left any telltale signs of how old you are- and get rid of them. 5. Your Home Address Older resume formats often included a header at the top of the page that had the job seeker’s name, address, and contact info on it. But now, there’s really no reason to include a home address, particularly if you are applying for a remote job. Although some employers might need to know where you live if the job has a location requirement, it’s acceptable to just add the city and state where you reside. Leaving off your address (and other personal info) can also prevent the possibility of identity theft, should your resume wind up where it doesn’t belong. 6. A Career Objective The objective of your job application is simple- you want to get hired! Even though career objectives were popular at one time, they aren’t really necessary anymore. If you feel that you need one (e.g., you’re changing careers), you can always address that issue in your cover letter. 7. Your Current Business Contacts Let’s say that you’re job searching while still employed. Be sure to not list your current job’s contact info (such as your work email or phone number) on your resume. Remember, employers can (and do) peruse your email or potentially have access to your voicemail. If you don’t get fired outright for the offense (you’re using company property to conduct your job search, and most likely on company time, too), it could cause some serious tension between you and your current boss. 8. Your Personal Email Address All job seekers should have at least two email addresses: one for professional purposes, and a personal one. Applying for a job with the email address luv2crochet@gmail.com or yankeefanforlife@yahoo.com doesn’t look professional, and could negatively impact how an employer perceives your job application. So use an email address specifically for job searching; that way you’ll never miss an email from a potential employer for a job interview.