10 Things to Leave Off Your Resume
We polled our Senior Recruiting staff about what you should leave off your resume. The theme is relevancy. And while some items may seem funny, it may enable bias within the hiring process.
-
Photo of Yourself
Darien Kilpatrick, Division Director at eHire, says at best, this doesn’t do anything for you. At worst it can be a cause for bias. It’s as simple as that.
-
Full Address
Darien also wants you to leave your full address off your resume. Not only does it allow people to know where you live but can, again, be cause for bias. Hiring Managers and Recruiters don’t need to know how much you paid for your home when they look it up on Zillow. This can also be a dangerous practice. Recruiters don’t need this information and it would be a red flag to ask for it before you’re hired. Leave it at your current city and state.
-
Associates (If You Have a Bachelors)
Unless it’s relevant to the specific role you’re applying for, leave off anything below a Bachelor’s degree. High School and Associate’s degrees take up space and most employers are searching for the highest level of education completed.
-
GPA
Mike Reynolds, Director of Projects at eHire, says, “Unless you were Valedictorian or right out of High School, there is no need to include your GPA”. Rarely are hiring managers impressed by this as they are looking for completed degrees and relevant experience.
-
Same Bullet Points for Every Job
Even if you have similar responsibilities in each of your previous jobs, try to show growth in that experience. Detail the specific project or part you played. You can even include something you took away from the experience. For example, using a new technology or tool.
-
Political Anything
While this should be a given, don’t include anything polarizing. Focus on your skills and experience and leave off specific groups, affiliations, or hobbies that may be divisive. Amanda Morse, Director of RevOps, reminds us what was taught to her about polite conversation during college sorority recruitment. “Avoid the 4 B’s. Booze, Biden, Boys [gossip], and Beliefs.”
-
Links to Social
Along those same lines, just know that if you link to your public social media accounts that are not “scrubbed”, you are opening up your personal life for inspection during the interview process. For better or worse.
-
Personal Hobbies
This may be controversial, but unless it relates to your career, Tony Parker, Director of Recruiting at eHire, says to leave off your personal hobbies. If you’re an IoT Engineer and build robots in your free time, it could be beneficial to include. Otherwise, save the space for relevant skills and experience.
-
Positions Over 10 Years Ago
Brooke Gorman, Search Director at eHire, wants you to know that college and high school part-time jobs can be great to include for a first professional job. It shows you can show up, perform, and handle responsibility. But after your first professional job you can leave off high school achievements and part-time, irrelevant jobs.
-
Unprofessional Email Address
Lastly, Tony Parker, wants to remind you to keep your email addresses professional. Don’t reference anything that HR would frown upon or include something that you found silly when you created it in middle school. We see a lot of emails that also include your date of birth or even the year. This won’t do you any favors and can be a cause for bias.
eHire employees have decades of experience reviewing profiles and resumes for some of the best companies to work for. If you want to speak to a Recruiter about your resume, reach out to us today for a consultation. Search jobs here or send your resume to info@ehire.com.