1. 24 Things Not to Put on Your Resume
By: Jeanette Mulvey,
BusinessNewsDaily Managing
Editor
2. Résumés can be tricky things
Many experts agree that you want to strike a
balance on the information you give a
potential employer.
Information that is provided should be
enough to separate you from the
competition but not too much that
something in your career history could rule
you out.
Read on or visit BusinessNewsDaily to find
out the latest expert take on your Résumés
creation.
3. Roy Cohen, Career Coach and Author, "The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide”"
• No typos ... ever - If you're sloppy in what you send out from the start, the take-away for the
reader is that you may be even more careless on the job.
• Political affiliations - Never include them unless you're looking for a job that would benefit by
disclosing this information and your level of participation. See more about why not to include your
political affiliations at BusinessNewsDaily.
• Your age - The résumé should convey your potential to add value. The number of years you've
been working tells the reader nothing about how good you are.
• Marital status - It has no bearing on your qualifications or potential to add value immediately. It
also feels hokey. In addition, by sharing this information, you open the door to lots of other
questions that may border on illegal in making the decision about you as a candidate.
• Reason for termination(s) - Unless there's been a lot of movement or hopping on your résumé,
there's no benefit to explaining the reason for a separation. See more about why not to include your
political affiliations at BusinessNewsDaily.
4. Pets Need Not Apply
Eric Haener, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies
says it’s a good idea to leave off the following items from your résumé as it could end up
hurting you in the hiring process:
• No personal statistics such as height, weight and
age.
• No information about pets – even if they are
unusual!
• No "unusual" nonprofessional personal hobbies.
• No information about high school jobs once you
have held a couple of professional positions.
5. Andy Lester, Blogger, Author of "Land the Tech Job You Love."
• A photo - unless you're applying for a position as a model or actor.
• A list of references - You'll be asked for them at the right point in the process. If you want the company to
be impressed by whom you know or whom you've worked with, then put that in the cover letter.
• An objective - Objectives are summaries of what you want to get from the company. It doesn't make
sense to start selling yourself by telling the reader what you hope to get out of him.
• Salary information - Disclosing your salary history weakens your position when negotiating a salary. It's
also irrelevant on your résumé.
• An unprofessional email address - Email accounts are free from Gmail, so there's no reason to use your
"cubs_fan_1969@hotmail.com" account for professional correspondence.
To learn more from Andy Lester’s take on Meaningless Self-Assessments & Unrelated Job Hobbies check out the
full countdown at BusinessNewsDaily.
6. Minor Typos lead to Major Consequences
Lorie Logan-Bennett, Director, The Career Center, Towson University
• The wrong contact information. The ultimate goal of the résumé is to get you the interview, and if your
email address or phone number is incorrect, the employer won’t be able to extend the interview
invitation. Minor typos in this section of the résumé have major consequences.
• Irrelevant information. Don’t include information that your employer targets are uninterested in, like
high school, the summer job you held 10 years ago, or the intro-level courses you had during your
freshman year of college.
• Too much information. Most employers give résumés a passing glance. If they don’t like what they see
during a quick once-over, it’s over.
• Information that will hurt you. Listing your 2.1 GPA isn’t going to help you. Same goes for listing all six of
the jobs you've held over the last 12 months. (Who wants to hire someone with a two-month average
tenure?)
7. The Power of the Written Word
Matt Bejin, Global Staffing Director, Urban Science
• Meaningless words. Do not say that you are "ethical," "a hard worker" or "energetic."
These are things that others should be saying about you or that you can illustrate
through examples during your interview.
• An objective. Résumés are meant to describe work history, job progression and
accomplishments. The objective is clear: You’re looking for a job.
• Limiting yourself to one page. If you need two or three pages to include everything,
that’s okay.
Read more from Matt Bejin, Global Staffing Director in our BusinessNewsDaily countdown.
8. Thank You
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