Top 10 Tips From Our Professional Resume Writer About What Not To Include In Your Resume.

You may know what you should include in your Resume, however, have you ever wondered what not to put in your Resume?

Often times we want a job so badly that we feel the person who is reading the resume needs to know everything about us. We want them to know how wonderful we are and why they should hire us. What better way to let them know who we are than to tell them everything about us. So we sit down and write a long resume explaining every little detail about our life, our work history, our personal life, and our personal affiliations. Well, this can make the difference between getting the job or not getting the job.

We have compiled a simple top 10 list of what not to put in your resume:

Rule #1:

Do not include your gender. First of all, the person doing the hiring should not be hiring based on gender. Additionally, that individual would likely choose you depending on your qualifications, not your gender. In addition, if you include your gender, the person reading your resume might feel that if they choose you as a potential candidate, they could be categorized as prejudice. If you are a guy, they can be blamed for choosing a man over another woman applicant. If you happened to be a woman, they can be blamed for playing favoritism and trying to meet a woman/man ratio. Either way, you lose.

Rule #2:

Do not include your nationality or where you were born. It really doesn’t matter. If you were born somewhere else and now you are a national of another country, 95% of the time, it is not relevant unless the position you are applying for requires some type of security clearance and in that case you will have to go through further screening.

Rule #3:

Do not include your birthday. It is not relevant for the position and can discourage people from hiring you because they may consider you too young or too old and that really depends on the age of the person that is reading the resume.

Rule #4:

Do not include your religious orientation. This is not necessary and people may have bias towards some religions or towards religious people in general. If you have volunteered for your church or religious organization, try not to include this information unless it is absolutely relevant for the position you are applying for.

Rule #5:

Do not include your political orientation. Same concept as that of Rule #4.

Rule #6:

Do not include any personal information such as your marital status, number of children or anything else pertaining to your family. It is your private life and shouldn’t matter. As a matter of fact, they shouldn’t ask you any questions regarding your family. If you are required to travel often, there could be an opportunity for the interviewer to ask you if you have young children and if you would be able to travel. Do not include that information in the resume and if it comes up during the interview, make sure to have an appropriate answer ready.

Rule #7:

Do not include a picture. Again, they are supposed to call you for an interview depending on your qualifications not your looks.

Rule #8:

Do not hand-in your resume in flashy colored paper, red, yellow, purple and so forth. These colors may be appropriate if you are an artist and you are trying to convey a specific message; otherwise, stay away from any colors. White, beige or light very light brown are your choices.

Rule #9:

If you are moving from another city, try to find a local number to write in your resume. Get a local cell phone or get a local phone number. Just looking at a long-distance number may discourage the person who is reading your resume to call you for an interview. When applying for senior positions, having a long-distance number and specifying that you are willing to relocate may be ok but in general, you are better off if you are local.

Rule #10:

Do not write complicated, hard to read sentences. Make it simple, easy to understand, keeping to the point and using few words. Bullet points are a great idea. You are not writing a novel because nobody would read it. Short and simple will bring more calls for interviews than a long boring resume. If you have any more questions regarding your Resume or what not to put in your resume, please contact us and we will be delighted to assist you further with your Resume.

ParadigmResume is a top-rated resume writing services company in the GTA area – Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering, Uxbridge, Burlington, Whitby, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, Caledon, Mississauga, Aurora, Markham, Scarborough, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, and Vaughan, ON.