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What Not to Include on Your Resume

When you work with a PeopleShare recruiter, you get the help you need to get your resume in the best shape and place you right at the top of a hiring managers list. Here are 5 tips to get your resume ready for hiring managers!

 

  1. Too Much Information

It is normal to want to include every detail from your work history, especially if you have an extensive career. Including every detail is not necessary and can often be a turn off to hiring managers. They want to get to know every detail in your interview, your resume is meant to be a quick overview of your experience, expertise and skills. Try to limit yourself to a few bullet points for each job you have had. Put enough so your skills and specialties are highlighted but save the majority for an interview.

 

  1. Details of Hobbies & Personal Details

Hobbies are a huge part of a person’s life, and that’s awesome! It is always important to have interests outside of the workplace. However, this does not mean you need to include these personal interests in your resume. Even if they are a big part of your life, it is not necessary for your interviewer to know. Similarly, there’s no need to include personal information on a resume such as your social security number, marital status, nationality, or spiritual beliefs.

 

  1. Negative Comments About Past Employer

It’s okay to have had a negative experience with a previous employer, but it is imperative that you never speak poorly about that job or your manager. Rather than focusing on the things you did not like about your job, focus on the tasks that you enjoyed doing! Give the hiring manager a snapshot into your time there, focusing on the positives of the job and the things you did well. This will not only give the hiring manager an understanding of what type of work you may be looking for, but also leave them with a more positive feeling.

 

  1. Inaccuracies About Your Qualifications

It may be tempting to exaggerate the truth on a resume. It seems simple, how will a hiring manager know? Through unexpected skills testing or reference checks, it will come out at some point that you were not honest on your resume. It’s better to be upfront from the start on your resume – that’s the only way you will find the perfect job match!

 

  1. Spelling, Grammar or Formatting Errors

The final step in building a successful resume is to ensure spelling, grammar and formatting are correct. Using spell check is a must, but you also need to re-read your resume to make sure you have the correct word usage, and the grammar makes sense. Avoid large blocks of text – it is difficult for hiring managers to get through. Aim to stick to a few bullet points per section. Ask a friend or family member to read through and double check everything – it helps!

 

Creating a resume that accurately depicts your work history, doesn’t include too much information, but still gets a solid profile to hiring managers is daunting. Working with a recruiter from PeopleShare takes the guess work out of not only this part of the job search, but the entire interview process. Contact your local PeopleShare branch today to get your resume in great shape so you can hit the ground running!