If you haven’t heard, the job market is the strongest it’s been in nearly 50 years. The unemployment rate is at 3.7 percent and 250,000 jobs were added last month. And despite it being the most hectic time of the year, now is the perfect time to search for a new career.
If you decide to test the waters and see what other opportunities are out there, you probably need to spruce up that resume. If you haven’t had to update your resume in recent history, here are five things you must avoid if you want to get offered a job interview.
Take that picture off
Pictures can be distracting to the viewer. It can deviate the hiring manager, recruiter, or human resources professional’s attention away from your great experience. And that’s something you never want to do.
Some people argue that a picture gives your resume personality. However, most recruiters agree that an image should be left off the resume. Even though it’s illegal to discriminate on a candidate’s appearance, ethnicity, or age, it’s better to just avoid the situation altogether.
A good compromise would be to link your LinkedIn profile to your resume where employers can get a better feel of your personality.
Remove irrelevant work experience
If you are well into your career, there is no need to include every single job or position you have held, unless it relevant to the job you are applying for. If you worked at McDonald’s 34 years ago while you were in school, you probably can leave that off of your resume.
Employers and recruiters only care about relevant work experience. So, unless you are fresh out of school, you can safely leave off some of your older work experience that may not be relevant to your prospective new position.
Your address
It’s almost 2019. There is no need to include your address on your resume. No employer is going to respond to your application by sending something to you in the mail.
If you are applying for a job in another city or even out of state, an employer or ATS may weed out your resume just because of where you are located. An employer, for example, may only be looking for a local candidate to avoid the subject of a relocation. By adding your address, you may be filtering yourself out without even knowing it.
Adding your address is also a privacy concern in this day an age. An employer will not need your address until you make it further along in the interviewing process, so please do yourself a favor and leave it off your resume.
List of references
Never include your references in the initial stages of the interviewing process. No employer is going to ask for references until you get further along the interview. by adding your references on your resume, it gives employers the opportunity to ask for an opinion on you before you even have the change to speak with the hiring manager.
To make matters worse, an employer can call an old boss of yours and ask them to come in for an interview. Believe it or not, it’s happened before. It also can put your current position at risk by prematurely calling your boss and letting them know you’re searching for other opportunities.
Fancy fonts or designs
Please forgo all of the fancy fonts, designs, and layouts. These can often look unprofessional and make your resume difficult to read. Plus, when submitting your resume online, some of the formatting may get messed up and your resume could quickly turn into a hot mess. I am sure you’ve heard of this old saying: “keep it simple, stupid.” This motto is great to keep in the back of your mind when updating that resume.
If you still need help updating your resume, we have much more resume advice to help you stand out from the competition and make a lasting impression on a prospective employer. Good luck!
