Items You Should Not Include on Your Resume

Far too often, job seekers view their resume as if it were some comprehensive legal document in which they're required to disclose every bit of information about themselves. In fact, there are certain items smart job seekers simply don't include in their resumes. Here's a list of terms and information to avoid when updating your resume.

Personal Data

Other than your basic contact information, don't include personal data in your resume. An employer needs your Social Security number when you're hired, but listing it on your resume simply makes you a candidate for identity theft, and the same is true for your driver's license or passport information. Don't include personal information such as age, race, sexual orientation, religion, date of birth or even gender; all of these involve categories that employers are supposed to look beyond when they hire.

An Objective Statement

Your resume should focus on meeting the needs of the employer. An objective statement focuses your resume instead on what you want, which, frankly, the employer doesn't care about. Objective statements make a resume feel old-fashioned and out of touch.

A Comprehensive Job List

Your prospective employer doesn't need to know that you worked at Disneyland right out of college or about that internship you did at a talent agency. You're not required to list every single job you've ever held on a resume, so don't include the ones that don't apply to the job you're applying for right now. Pick and choose the elements from your past that make you look the most appealing.

Buzz Words and Clichés

Too many modern resumes are littered with words such as "thinking outside the box," "go-getter" and "synergy." Avoid these clichés, which send a message that you are not particularly creative. Replace them with active verbs that point to actual accomplishments that are relevant to the position for which you're applying.

School Information

Unless you're newly graduated from college, most of your schooling is irrelevant to the job search. Don't include your high school if it's more than a few years in the past. Don't include courses you took in college, clubs you belonged to or anything at all about middle or elementary school. You don't even need to mention your GPA.

A Photo

While actors and models are required to provide headshots when they go up for jobs, no other job listing needs to know what you look like. In fact, providing a photo can make prospective employers nervous, since it provides some of that personal information that they're not supposed to consider when hiring. Don't incorporate a photo into your resume, and don't include one with your application packet.

The real secret to writing a great resume, of course, is to target your resume for each job you apply for, including only the information that makes you look amazing to the hiring manager at that particular company. When you focus on what you should include as you update your resume, you're better able to avoid the "don't include" items that can undermine your job search.

Photo courtesy of phasinphoto at FreeDigitalPhotos.net