When you are writing your resume you tend to want to let the world know everything about you in every detailed area you can possibly think of because why wouldn’t they want to know everything about you? You may also want to let them know how creative you are by using fancy handwriting or a format that is abstract. No matter how much you think these are the right things to do, they simply are not the way to land a job. Adding things to a resume is the easy part, the restraint to leave things off is what makes it difficult. Here are the top 4 things that should never, ever be included on your resume no matter what!
1) A Functional Format
This sounds like a good thing right? Wrong! Functional formats are confusing to a hiring manager because they are written to show job duties and titles without the structure of when you worked at the company and how long you were there. Your resume should always be in chronological order starting with your most recent experience going backwards from there. Hiring managers need to see how recently you performed your job duties and how long you did them throughout your career. When writing your chronological resume, be sure to note jobs that were short-term and take them off. Managers do not need to see a one month job because it takes up space on your resume and it may indicate that you are a job hopper and will leave at the first chance you get.
2) Fancy Designs and Subjective Descriptions
Italic fonts may look pretty but they are difficult to read. There is no need to add “flair” to your resume because your resume is being judged for content not creative illustration. At the end of the day, it a functional product to help you get hired. Clear fonts and bullet points are great for maximizing visibility for the manager. Add creativity by making a beautiful layout that is easy to navigate and read. When writing your bullet points do not add subjective and wordy descriptions. This is merely to highlight your skills that pertain to the job. Managers do not want your opinion on what you did or what you think you did well, but purely what you did, how you did it, and why it made an impact to the company. Short, sweet, and concise.
3) Your Photo
Adding a photo is not a good way to send out a resume because companies must base their hiring decision on skill set and ability alone. They cannot discriminate based on age, race, gender, disability, or sexual orientation and by sending a photo you are portraying yourself negatively to the manager. You never want to get a job based off of how you look.
4) Too Much Information About Yourself
You may love to run in your spare time or play team sports but that has little to nothing to do with your job ability, so do not add your list of hobbies. Other things that should not be on your resume include what high school you went to, your salary for each position and what you want from this one, or a list of references. These all add no value, create extra pages, and are irrelevant to the manager. Keep it simple.
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