When it comes to your resume, the goal is to tell your career story – with dates, companies, titles and responsibilities. With that being said, there are some details that need not be added. As a recruiter, you would be surprised by the amount of (unnecessary) information I find on people’s resumes. Details that do not add any value to the resume and frankly, aren’t very safe to share with the world. Here are big three you need to steer clear of:
Your Personal Information
I’m not talking your phone number or email; that’s all fine and dandy. I mean stuff like your birthday and SSN. These things can really be dangerous to add on your resume, especially when it’s getting listed out on job boards. This information is not meant to be shared with the general public. I’ve called candidates in the past who are completely confused as to how I got their phone number, and it’s all because it was on an old resume in a job board. Imagine other information floating out there. Be sure you are aware of where your resumes are active and where your contact information lives.
Your Full Address
No one needs to know your full mailing address, except for Amazon’s shipping department. In my opinion, your city and state does just fine. No one needs your apartment number, and again, it’s not necessarily safe to share this info with the digital world. When a BlueWave recruiter reaches out to you for a potential job, they will ask questions about your experience, desired compensation, etc. but what we will always ask about is your commute. We’ll send you the location of the role and make sure it’s reasonable for you. If it’s too far from home, that’s okay. But we never need to locate you on a GPS.
If your full mailing address is on your resume, employers and recruiters can map your location to the potential job location and if they rule it to be too far, you may not get a call back. Employers typically like employees to be within 30-40 minutes of the office. The closer the better; having employees live close to work reduces lateness and absences.
On the flip side, if you move and forget to update your address, you may be missing out on potential openings because people thing you’re not in the area anymore. Using only your city tends to eliminate this problem.
For example, Orlando is such a big place that you could be right around the corner from an office or it could be a 45-minute commute.
Your References
You do not need to list your references on your resume. Sharing your references’ contact information before even speaking with a recruiter or employer may result in your references’ contact information being abused or spammed out negatively. At BlueWave, we will always ask for your professional references (and ask for your permission to contact them). And while we’re here, you don’t need to add “References available upon request” either. We know they are, don’t worry.
Be mindful of what information you’re sharing with the world. Your personal information AND your references’ information is sensitive data and no one wants their identity compromised. If you’re looking for more advice on crafting your resume, we can take a deeper dive!
