What Not to Have on Your Resume

Walking back home after dropping my daughter at school today, I was wondering what’s bothering me the most about the gazillion resumes that I review every week and it occurred to me that most people are still writing their resumes like the 90’s. It’s one thing to choose not to color your hair even when they grey at an early age like me but isn’t that taking it too far making yourself look redundant in the job market.

Unless of course you’re looking at starting your own venture or taking an early retirement so either ways you don’t care.

But wait! what if that dream role you were eyeing for just opened… Yes the same company that you have been dreaming of every single day…

4 Things that should never be on your resume:

Personal details: In most countries across the globe the hiring companies don’t ask for personal details like martial status , age , gender etc. These can be considered as a basis for biases on the part of the company while hiring someone. I urge you to not waste the expensive real estate on your resume.

Reference Available Upon Request: These words on a resume instantly make the evacuation alarm ringing in the head of the hiring manager. This phrase hasn’t been used for at least 15 years if not more. Do you want to show you are outdated?

Personal Activities: I am not sure if that’s helping anyone decide why they’re hiring you. Are you looking for the role as cricket coach or an artist or as a senior leader who can run a business or a vertical that’s aligned with the goals of the organization? I met a hiring manager some days ago who said “I don’t look at resume’s that are 4 page long, if someone can’t focus on what needs to go on their resume how are they going to prioritize in their job?”

Objective Statement: Like the phrase “Reference Available Upon Request” an Objective Statement on your resume is also outdated and should be replaced with a short profile of 3-5 lines describing your total experience that will make the recruiter curious and want to read more.

Just 2 pages to share more than 10 years of experience makes it very expensive Real Estate. The above resume tips will help you make the most of this expensive Real Estate.

What are some of your challenges when you write your own resume? Shoot me an email at Preeti@purpleskybypreeti.com & I’d love to help! Till then Happy Job Hunting