How do I decide what to take off of my résumé?

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.

Q: How do I decide what to take off of my résumé?

A: There is much debate about if your résumé really needs to be one page. But regardless of if it’s one page or two, there are some common elements you can cut to make your résumé easier to read and more effective. Here are a few:

Work history that’s more than 15 years old

This one isn’t cut and dry. You shouldn’t just delete everything before 2010. But here’s what to consider cutting or condensing. If you have been at your last (or current) position for fewer than five years, you can keep a few bullet points under each of your previous jobs dating back 10–15 years.

But if a role on your résumé is from more than 10–15 years ago, your old responsibilities, tasks, and accomplishments are likely not very relevant anymore.

The exception is if you are looking to make a career change and you have older relevant job experience. You can list your positions with just title and dates but add a couple of bullet points to the older related experience. Your cover letter (yes, you still should write one) is the best place to connect the dots for the hiring manager on how your older experience is related.

Jargon, clichés, and hyperbole

You should avoid unnecessary jargon, clichés, and hyperbole in all parts of your job search process, but your résumé is the most crucial place to trim it out. If your résumé is being read by AI, phrases like “seasoned solutions-oriented team player” won’t pass the keyword screens. Those words are similarly meaningless (and might actively work against you) if your résumé is being read by a real person.

The best résumés follow the basic rules of good writing. Think of the golden rule of prose: Show, don’t tell. An easy way to do this is to replace adjectives with numbers and facts: Instead of “dynamic sales professional with a distinguished track record,” try “Closed over $1 million in new partnerships each quarter.” 

Your objective or summary  and your mailing address

I don’t know who ever thought an “objective” on a résumé was necessary. Your objective is to get hired, so anything you write here is just throat-clearing wasted space. Some people replace objective with a summary, which, in theory, can be useful for recruiters or AI that’s doing a quick scan. Most often though summaries are also useless because they are filled with meaningless buzzwords (see above). You’re better off formatting your résumé in an easy-to-scan way where your skills and accomplishments are clear.

Including your mailing address is a relic of a time when applications were sent via snail mail and is an easy place to streamline. If you’re applying to an in-person job, however, you may still want to include the city you live in. The header space of your résumé should also include your email, phone, website/portfolio link, and one or two professional social media profiles, like LinkedIn.

Fancy formatting, your photo, basic skills

If you are early in your career and feel like you don’t have enough to fill the page, it can be tempting to pad your résumé by adding basic skills like “proficient with Microsoft office suite.” But skills like that are assumed and adding them can actually make you look less experienced. Don’t try to fill the space with colorful large fonts, formatting tricks, or your headshot either. White space is better and a simple format is easier to read, by both humans and applicant tracking systems.

If you feel like your résumé is too thin, you may need to expand your definition of “experience.” (Here’s my advice on how to make up for lack of experience on your résumé.)

Want more advice on what to cut from your résumé? Here you go:

• 5 ways to make your résumé more impressive without lying
• Many job applications are never read by a human. Here’s how to make sure your résumé gets seen
• 5 things you should take off your résumé right now

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