Hiring Expert Says Delete These 7 Items Off Your Resume Right Now
When was the last time you really cleaned up your resume?
We’re not just talking about adding new responsibilities to your current position or adding relevant certifications.
If you’ve been using the same resume for the last few years with little to no results, there’s a good chance the entire CV needs an overhaul.
Fortunately, you don’t have to completely rewrite your job history or brainstorm new ways to make the old position sound more important.
Peter Yang is a career expert and the CEO of Resume Writing Services, the parent company of ResumeGo. He’s also a former hiring manager and recruiter. The guy knows a thing to two about getting hired.
In a recent article on the CNBC website Make It, Yang explained the seven things that need to be removed from your resume right now. As in, as soon as you’re done reading this article.
“As the CEO of a resume writing service, I’ve read more than a thousand resumes this year so far, and I’ve seen a lot of ‘junk’ that doesn’t belong — things that can hurt your chances of landing an interview.
If you want to write a resume that says ‘Hire me,’ then every word, number, line, and achievement must be carefully considered.”
Here’s what to leave off your resume and delete ASAP, according to Yang.
1. Irrelevant hobbies and interests – Explains Yang, “But hiring managers don’t care about how you spend your free time — at least not immediately. They have deadlines and large piles of resumes to review, and right now, they’re just focused on finding candidates who meet the requirements.”
Unless the hobby or interest is related to the job, delete.
2. Too many soft skills – What are soft skills? Soft skills are “non-technical skills that relate to how you work,” like how you interact with colleagues, solve problems, and manage your work. They’re good to have, but you could also be totally lying. You might think you work well with others, but you really don’t.
“Instead of just saying you’re good at multitasking, for example, it’s better to include something like, “Led multiple projects from start to completion, leading to an X% increase in X.”
3. Professional headshots – No one needs to see your face.
4. Personal pronouns – Everyone knows you’re talking about yourself because it’s your resume.
5. The wrong type of email address – It’s time to update from Hotmail and AOL.
6. Your mailing address – A name and address are typically the first things people put on a resume, especially because it’s a part of every resume template. Yang explains why to delete the address immediately.
“Recruiters don’t need to know exactly where you live during the early stages of the hiring process. It can also become a security risk if your information gets stolen.”
And finally, the seventh thing to delete from your resume right now.
7. Any job older than 10 years – “The older the position (unless it was at a big, well-known company, or is closely related to the job you want), the less hiring managers will care about it.”
Yang suggests using that extra space to talk more about your current position.