We constantly hear about what you should put on your resume, but we rarely talk about what to leave off.
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. So let’s hit the backspace button on seven commonly overlooked things you should remove from your resume ASAP — and why:
1. Irrelevant hobbies and interests
Love esports? Camping? Coin collecting? Gardening? Everyone has a hobby, and most people think that the more unique it is, the more it will make them stand out from other candidates.
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.
Of course, it’s okay to include your hobby if it’s related to the position you’re applying for. If it’s a finance job, for example, mentioning that you like to dabble in cryptocurrency investing can be seen as a plus. But if you’re trying to land a medical research assistant role, don’t bother.
4. Personal pronouns
Surprisingly, many candidates still make the mistake of using personal pronouns — “I,” “me,” “we” — on their resume.
Why leave out personal pronouns? Because it’s your resume, so it’s already implied that everything on it is about you. Instead of writing, “I managed 5 employees,” just put “managed 5 employees.”
5. The wrong kind of email
Hiring managers want candidates who are at least somewhat tech-savvy ... and that means not having an email address from an outdated account like AOL or Hotmail.
When in doubt, just stick with a Gmail or Outlook address.
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