There’s no question that your resume is one of the most important tools of your job search. It’s quite possibly what gets “your foot in the door” at a company that’s looking to fill an important position.
As such, there’s a good chance that you’ve taken meticulous care in preparing your resume—its format, how it looks, spelling and grammar usage, etc. While all of those things may be in perfect order, your resume could still send the wrong message to the hiring authority and end up in the trash bin or the shredder pile.
Why is that? Because while your resume was clean, sharp, and professional looking, it was also outdated in ways you weren’t aware.
This could especially be the case if you haven’t conducted a job search in a while (think years). Things have changed quite a bit since then, and it’s a good idea to brush up on the basics and become familiar with those mistakes that can be detrimental to the health of your job search.
Below are five things on your resume that are outdated (and need to be immediately changed or eliminated):
- An Objective Statement—The harsh reality is that employers don’t really care what your career objective is; they care about what their objective is. Instead of an Objective Statement, use a Professional Summary, which describes more of what you bring to the table for the employer, not what you want.
- An email address from an antiquated provider—Yes, America Online (AOL) was once the leader in email service. It has been a very long time since that was the case. There are a myriad of options available now, starting with Gmail. Put your email address under the microscope.
- Home address—All you really need is the city and state in which you live. That’s because the hiring authority needs to know how much travel is involved if you’re interviewed or relocation considerations involved if you’re hired. Your house number, street address, zip code . . . those can all be eliminated.
- Your photo—This probably was never a widely accepted practice (or accepted at all), but for some reason, candidates still feel compelled to include a headshot with their resume. Unless you’re applying for a job as an international model, this will get you nowhere.
- “References available upon request”—These days, it’s understood that you have references ready, should a recruiter or the company need them. This is an outdated statement that was common practice 20 years ago, but not today.
How does your current resume stack up against the five items listed above? Is outdated in any way? What changes need to be made?
Take the appropriate action today and make sure that your resume is as up-to-date and timely as it is professional, organized, and polished.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of organizations. If this is something you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.