Five Items to Cut from Your Résumé
Are you jumping back into the job search and taking a crack at refreshing your résumé? Or perhaps putting together a résumé for the first time? Don’t forget to utilize these quick tips to create a résumé that will help you land an interview!
- Objective Statement
While it used to be a staple on the résumé’s of years past, it is now OK to remove as it’s stating the obvious, that you’re looking for a job, and it takes up valuable real estate place that could be better used highlighting your work experience.
- Irrelevant work experience
You want to tailor your résumé to the job you’re applying to as much as possible, and that includes getting rid of work experience that doesn’t apply to the specific job. What you can do instead is create a couple different versions of your résumé that encompasses all your work experience, and then refer back to the different versions when needed to pull information about specific past work experience to be able to create a tailored and concise résumé every time.
- Long paragraphs
Employers look at your résumé for an average of 7.4 seconds so you want to make your achievements stand out as much as possible. Add bullet points instead of long paragraphs, and use numbers and percentages as much as possible to give their eyes something to grab onto when they’re quickly scanning your résumé. Keep bullet points to short sentences as much as possible.
- Unprofessional email address
Nothing can kill your chances at an interview quite as quickly as an unprofessional email address. Any address that includes a nickname, hobby, pet’s name, or other personal information should be avoided. Ensure your email address that you put on your résumé reflects the professional side of you.
- References
Again, don’t waste valuable space on your résumé, especially with information that can be given at a later, more pertinent time. No need to even write “references available upon request,” if the company wants your professional references, they’ll ask!