7 Items to Cut from Your Resume in 2018

Perplexed by all the resume “rules” you see all over the internet? I know it’s daunting wading through all the advice and deciding which to follow and what to discard. In today’s job market, a variety of influences determine the most effective strategies for resume writing such as the huge number of applicants on saturated job boards, the predispositions of hiring managers, dwindling attention spans, and the requirements dictated by Applicant Tracking Systems.

In 2017, my team and I worked with hundreds of job seekers to create resumes that won interviews, secured promotions, and increased salaries. We found removing these seven items from resumes repeatedly upped the chances for more interviews and shorter job searches.

OBJECTIVE STATEMENTS

The issue with objective statements is that they represent an outdated approach telling the employer what you hope to gain from working with their company. It centers on what you want from a job as opposed to what value you will create for the organization.

During the initial screening phase, employers are not concerned with what you want out of the position – that comes later during the interview. When the employer is scanning your resume trying to make a fit/no fit decision what’s important is how you create value by saving money, making money, cutting costs, contributing to the bottom line, solving problems or resolving pain points.

An exception to this is when an objective statement will help you to work in an important position title. A client breaking into the medical device sales industry with no sales experience will benefit from an objective statement if it is being used strategically to get her resume past an ATS system and into the hands of a human being.

REFERENCES

References, or even the note “References Available Upon Request” can be cut from your resume. Leave this off because it is assumed, and therefore wasted space where you could include more valuable information like a recent certification earned or measurable success you recently achieved that shows how you created value for your employer.

HEADSHOTS

Unless you are applying for jobs outside of the U.S.—in certain countries where headshots are required—leave a picture of yourself off of the resume. Not only is having a picture non-standard and distracting, but it could also hypothetically open the organization to accusations of discrimination based on race, age, weight, gender, attractiveness, or personal style. Some companies may even reject resumes with headshots as a result. Unless what you look like is relevant to the role you seek, a URL to your LinkedIn profile is a good substitute.

OLD DATES & OLD EXPERIENCE

Remove dates that open your resume to age discrimination. An example would be a position you held in 1982. Only include the past 10-15 years of relevant experience.

Leave graduation dates off of your resume unless they were within the past five years.

That said, if you are transitioning to a new field or in a circumstance where your older experience is more relevant to the jobs you are currently pursuing, there are workarounds!

For example, a past client of mine who was transitioning from healthcare to medical device sales had spent the previous 13 years becoming a doctor, only to realize that it was not a great fit for him (largely due to a fear of patient lawsuits). Prior to that, he had worked in B2B sales.

In case, we took the older experience in sales and highlighted some of the quantifiable achievements in the career summary, such as his exceptionally consistent performance surpassing the sales quota by 110%+. We also highlighted large accounts he had managed with Fortune 500 companies. His healthcare background provided him with a vast network of doctors, nurses, administrators, and medical devices sales reps. Including these important experiences and achievements in the career summary (as well as in the professional experience section) ensured that his resume wasn’t overlooked because of his somewhat unusual career path. In fact, it worked to his advantage. 

Look for the unique angle. In this client’s case, we highlighted the potential he had of becoming a great medical device sales representative—because he understood the doctor’s point of view and had an intimate knowledge of his customer. This really helped to show how he was the best fit for the role. Focus on showing how you’re the best fit for the position by finding your unique angle and sharing it!

PASSIVE PHRASES

Passive terms like duties included or responsible for only describe the work required but not the contributions you made or the value you created for the organization. Instead of using passive language focus on communicating how you create value and use numbers and metrics to prove it.

DELETE REPETITIVE VERBS

Be creative with action verbs. You don’t have to use the word managed five times on your resume there are lots of other options. For a list of 100 action verbs check out this infographic.

SLOW WIND-UPS

Slow windups are phrases that don’t add value and delay getting to the impactful information. Examples of slow windups: extensive knowledge in or familiarity with, ensures, enjoys building, growing and managing. Instead get right to the point by saying: pioneered, directed, expanded, generated, launched or another verb that communicates action and value creation

Want more resume help? Here are 141 articles I’ve written on resume writing, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and job searching.

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