What Not to Include in Your Resume
You only get one chance to make a good first impression with a potential employer—and resumes are usually the first point of contact. While a good resume could go a long way towards getting a job, including the following things can land your application straight in the reject pile:
1. Personal information or characteristics
While including your contact information on your resume is a necessity, any more information than that and you are breaching on unprofessional. Mentioning height, weight, race, or other more personal identifiers will raise a red flag in employer’s eyes. The reader of your resume expects to find standard, work-related information in your resume to determine if you are a good fit—any more beyond your address, phone number, and e-mail address, and you will hurt your chances of getting the job.
2. Photographs
A majority of jobs, including apartment jobs, do not require a photograph in a job application. Unless an employer states outright that candidates submit a picture, including one will reflect poorly on your professionalism.
3. Contact Information for References
Because you will also submit a reference form during the job application process, including the contact information of previous employers or companies is unnecessary. If you do list how to contact references it will likely crowd your resume and distract your reader.
4. Elementary & High School Experience
Unless you are applying for a position while in your early years of college, any prior experience should be nixed from your resume. Awards, honors, and high-scores in high school—while they are all valuable achievements—are not highly relevant to a potential employer. You should include more recent accomplishments to demonstrate that you have continued to grow professionally and will add to the success of their company.
5. An Objective Statement
Objective statements are a more dated practice, and generally do more harm than good. The focus of your resume should be how you can benefit your future employer—not what they can do for you. If you do feel the need to express a statement similar to your overall career ‘objective,’ this can be done in an interview.
Competition is steep when it comes to resumes—especially when applying for apartment jobs—and cutting these things from your resume will both give you a leg up on the competition as well as impress your future employer.
