What to leave off your resume
Don’t spoil a great resume by adding unnecessary or potentially harmful elements. Here’s a list.
Personal Characteristics such as height, weight, health, gender, marital status, number of children, ethnic origin, religion, or age. Employers should not base their decision to interview you – or not interview you – on any of these characteristics, so don’t give them the opportunity.
The following three categories give example traits that should never be included as stand-alone statements:
Clichés such as “hard worker”, “quick learner”, or “works well individually or with a team”. These overused and subjective statements are meaningless by themselves, and – like all clichés – do not distinguish you from the crowd.
Givens such as “honest”, “dependable”, “trustworthy”, “reliable” etc. These traits are expected of every employee, and say nothing more than “I am a human being.”
Personality Traits such as “friendly”, “outgoing”, “good-humoured”, “conscientious”, “astute”, “compassionate” etc. These subjective claims can only be verified in person.
If you possess any of the above traits TO AN OUTSTANDING DEGREE, provide supporting evidence
that illustrates their benefit, instead of merely listing them as attributes.
Unrelated interests. Suppose you’re applying for a Landscaping position and one of your weekend hobbies is remodelling old Chevrolets. That’s fine, but do not mention it on your resume. You don’t want an employer’s potential love or hatred of Chevrolets to influence the decision to interview you. It has nothing to do with the job.
References. These can be supplied during an interview, if requested. In fact, the statement “References available on request” is now a given, and need not be included in your resume.