7 Things You Should Leave Off Your Resume
When writing a Resume, most people ask the question “What should I include in my Resume” thinking that if you add the right things that you will get an interview. However, asking yourself “what should I leave off my resume?” may be a better question to ask.
Sometimes including too much information or that wrong information can become the barrier that prevents you from getting an interview. It could be the things you leave off your resume that gets you an interview. Remember, the ultimate goal of a Resume is to get an interview. The interview then leads you to getting the job and position you’re applying for. With this in mind, here are 7 Things You Should Leave Off Your Pastoral Resume.
#1. Old and Irrelevant experience
When writing a Pastoral Resume, there’s sometimes this pressure to add all of our past experiences and jobs. Some people may even advise you to do this. Even if that sounds like good advice, resist the temptation to add all of your past jobs and experiences. Only include what is relevant and important to this specific role and position. A good rule to follow is to only include experiences from the past ten years. Anything beyond that is most likely irrelevant to the present position you’re applying for. Employers want to see and know what you’ve done most recently. Including jobs you had in high school won’t help when applying for a Pastoral Resume. Include all recent relevant experience that will demonstrate that you have the qualities and abilities they are looking for regarding that specific position. One trick is to look at the specific job description and use some of those descriptive words and phrases in your past experiences to show that you have the necessary skills to fill the role. They will only see what’s important to this position which will lead to your potential employer wanting to interview you.
#2. Long Paragraphs
Keeping your Resume concise and focused will help your resume stick out from others. Resumes are not a place to write long sentences or paragraphs. Don’t add any fluff or use too many descriptive words. When Resumes have long paragraphs, the important and significant information gets lost. You want every word, qualification, skill, and description to mean something and carry weight. Take the time to really think through every detail included in your Resume. This can take a lot of time and is very tedious, but keeping your resume to the point will help potential employers see clearly and quickly why you are a good candidate for the position. Try to keep sentences no longer than fifteen words so that it’s quick and easy to read. If there are a lot of people applying for one position, employers won’t spend too much time on each resume. They may even skim over all the Resumes quickly. If this is the case, you will want your resume to be sharp and to the point. Avoid writing long paragraphs in your Pastor Resume so that potential employers will want to start a conversation with you.
#3. General Qualities or Skills
Leave off any general qualities or skills. Again, you don’t want any fluff or useless words in your resume. Be very specific with what you include in the qualifications and previous experience sections of your resume. If general words are used, it should be followed by quantifiable metrics that show your ability to make things grow and become better. For example “Developed Small Group Systems” is too general. Instead, include specific numbers like “Developed Small Group Systems for over 300 adults”. For the skills section of your resume, an example of a statement that’s too general would be “Skilled Communicator” or “Strategic Thinker”. Instead, use something like “Skilled Communicator with over 10 years of delivering sermons and teachings to groups both large and small” and “Strategic thinker with over three years of experience making strategic decisions for a church with over 600 members”. Leave off all generality qualities and instead be very specific with what you bring to the table.
#4. A List of Tasks
Another thing you should leave off your Pastoral Resume is a list of tasks you did with previous jobs and employers. Don’t just list things you did. Demonstrate that the previous experiences you had will add value to this new position that you’re applying for. Quantify what you did to show that you can make things grow and become better. For example, don’t just write “Recruited and trained volunteers” but instead put something like “Recruited and trained over 80 volunteers”. The numbers matter because it demonstrates the scale of what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve been responsible for. Leave off a list of tasks from your Pastoral Resume. Include quantifiable accomplishments that show you can create results.
#5. Personal Information Hobbies & Interests
Since this is a Pastoral Resume, many people feel like they can add personal interests and hobbies to their Resume thinking it will help them get an interview. This is not true. You need to write Pastor Resumes with professionalism and with a business mindset. Employers do not need to know what your hobbies and interests are. Employers want to know why you are the best fit for this role and how your previous experience and skills make you the best candidate. Leave off all hobbies and interests. You can share those with the church and co-workers after you’ve been hired for the Pastoral job.
#6. Reasons for Leaving Previous Jobs
Leave off any reasons for leaving previous jobs or employers. These types of things are best saved for conversations where you can give specifics on the context and reasons for things not working out. Putting down reasons for being fired or quitting previous jobs only raises more questions and leaves employers feeling uneasy about you. It also clutters and takes up unnecessary space on your resume. Remember, every qualification, skill, previous position, sentence, and word on your resume is vitally important. Don’t waste the time or space by including reasons for leaving previous jobs.
#7. Misspellings and Grammatical Errors
This seems obvious, but if it’s here, you know that means this happens more times than you’d think. Many Resumes have spelling and grammatical errors which forces employers to move on to other candidates. Having spelling and grammar errors communicates to employers that you are not detail oriented and that you didn’t give your best effort. If you can’t give your best on your Resume, what makes employers believe that you’ll give your best for them? Make sure to leave off all spelling and grammatical errors. If grammar isn’t your strength, have a friend or family member that has a strength in this area review and look over your Resume. It’s always helpful to have a second set of eyes to catch mistakes. Typos happen and errors happen. However, you can’t let a little mistake like this prevent you from getting the Pastoral Position that you're pursuing.
Leaving these things off your resume is the difference between a good resume and a great resume. Following steps above will help your Resume to rise above the others and land the interview for the Pastor job you are applying to. You’ve got this!