Most people think that the more information you include on your CV, the better it will be received. This isn’t necessarily true; in fact, there are several things you should not put on your CV because they could actually hurt your chances of getting an interview and even the job itself. To help you avoid any possible pitfalls, here are 10 things you should not put on your CV…
1) Photo
Although it might be tempting to include a candid, personal photo on your CV, stay away from any that include you drinking or doing drugs. There’s no reason why an employer needs to know that you partied too hard in college or that your vacation shot is actually of you at a bar in Tijuana. Even if you don’t have photos like these, some employers will still take anything they can get as an excuse not to hire someone they’re not 100% sure about. If you want to stand out as professional and competent, leave your partying days behind with your 20-something friends. Besides, who wants their resume passed along to HR before even getting past hiring managers?
2) Religious information
There are some religions that will not hire people of other religions. A good example of such a religion is Scientology, as reported by TechRepublic contributor Darryl K. Taft. If you are not religious at all, then it’s safe to leave any information about your religious beliefs off your resume. If you do choose to include it, consider leaving it out if you know that many companies will shy away from hiring a certain type of person based on their beliefs. The same rule applies for social media profiles—if there’s anything overly political or religious mentioned in your profile (and there shouldn’t be), then omit it from your CV in order to avoid turning off potential employers who would be inclined to discriminate against you based on those attributes.
3) References from friends
We’re not saying that you shouldn’t go to bat for your friends. But using their name as a reference is a big no-no. Credibility is everything in business and you don’t want anyone wondering if your friend is just trying to take care of his own reputation by speaking highly of you. Friends in need are good, but references aren’t a favor—they’re someone’s professional opinion about how well you can do a job. References should be people who have worked with you in that particular field or industry, not your second cousin’s mommy-friend who has known you since preschool and thinks you’re great at everything but never actually saw what kind of work product came out of it.
4) References from previous employers
Sure, a letter of recommendation from a current or former boss is great to have if you can get it. But many CVs end up being passed around from person to person (or being scanned into databases) before anyone actually sits down and reads them, so letters often don’t make an impact—and when they do, it’s not always for good reasons. They may be seen as evidence that you are hard to work with or complain about your colleagues. Some employers see a long list of job references as a turn-off, because it looks like you’re not in control of your own career—someone else has been calling all your shots.
5) Salary expectations
If you’re job-hunting, it can be tempting to include your salary expectations. But there are two reasons not to put your salary expectations on your CV: firstly, you have no idea what an employer is willing to pay you. Even if they’ve advertised a salary for that position, it doesn’t mean they will offer that figure to everyone; and secondly, you want to get offers based on what value you bring—not based on how cheap or expensive (or how similar) other people are in their demands. There’s no reason for anyone else at a company to know what salaries other employees are making—and there is often no way for them to find out anyway.
6) Travelling history
When it comes to travel, history doesn’t matter. Employers want to see what you’ve done with your time off—not where you went. If a hiring manager is impressed with your foreign passport stamps, they might ask about your travels in an interview; but you don’t need to clutter up your resume with things that aren’t relevant (or legal) for them to know. If anything, having too much information can be a red flag that you aren’t detail-oriented enough or worse—that there may be something untoward in your history they don’t know about yet. These are not things employers want to learn from reading your resume.
7) CVs in multiple languages
If you don’t have a strong grasp of English, it’s a good idea to stick with your native language. Your English could be perfectly fine, but CVs are tricky and without proofreading by a native speaker, there’s too much room for error. If you aren’t 100% sure about grammar or spelling, avoid putting anything on your CV that could jeopardize an interview opportunity. Be proactive: find people willing to edit and proofread your CV before applying for jobs in English-speaking countries where you may need to meet with executives from non-English speaking countries.
8) Date of birth and age
While you might think that including your age is a good way to show off how young and ambitious you are, research shows it’s actually detrimental to job seekers. Research by TheLadders showed that including one’s date of birth had a negative impact on results. Ageism isn’t illegal, but some recruiters may see it as a red flag if they don’t want an older worker who might not be able to work for decades (the average life expectancy in developed countries has been steadily increasing since 1950). So save yourself from potential discrimination and leave your age off your resume or LinkedIn profile.
9) Special skills that are unrelated to the job or industry
While you may have an exceptional talent for cake decorating, your skills aren’t related to what you want to do for a living. So don’t add cake decorator extraordinaire to your resume. It doesn’t say anything about you other than that perhaps you have too much time on your hands. The same is true of special skills in computer programming or languages like Spanish—unless they are directly related to what your dream job would be, leave them off. Companies might be impressed at first but will quickly realize there’s no point in hiring someone with such broad skills if they’re not going to use them daily.
10) Controversial views
If you have a particularly controversial view—for example, you’re a climate change denier or an anti-vaxxer—that doesn’t belong in your resume. No employer wants to be put in a position where they have to defend their beliefs and values, and they shouldn’t have to. This also goes for anything illegal or morally reprehensible. If your profile is littered with racial slurs, it might give off the impression that you think it’s acceptable behavior and don’t have any respect for others around you. That is not okay at work and won’t get you far in your career.
Conclusion
Here are 10 things you should not put on your CV, though feel free to add what is appropriate for you. Ultimately you’ll have to make decisions about which skills and accomplishments to highlight – focus first on those that are most relevant to your target role, then those that will impress an employer without making him think hey, there’s a red flag here…!.