What You Do Not Include On Your Tech Resume Is Just As Important As What You Should Include
As a tech job candidate, you may rightfully focus on what items should be on your resume, but failing to recognize that what you should not include on your tech resume is equally important. If your resume contains irrelevant information unrelated to the position you are applying for, you risk wasting the reviewer’s valuable time. Frivolous facts can give the impression that you are not serious, and potentially off-putting, controversial, or polarizing language can immediately send your resume to the circular file.
As you craft or tailor your resume, here are nine things to not include on your tech resume:
High School Information
Even if you are fresh out of college and looking for your first full-time tech job, where you went to high school and how and what you did while there is of no interest or use to tech hiring managers. The tech job you are applying for likely requires a college degree or “equivalent experience.” Include that information, but save the high school stuff for your next reunion.
References
Space is a precious commodity on your resume. Including your references – or even writing “References available upon request”- wastes that space. A potential employer will ask for your references if they want them, which will certainly not be before your interview. If you want your references ready at that point, put them on a separate document, but this is information you should not include on your tech resume.
A Frivolous Email Address
If your personal email address is yourname@gmail.com, you should feel free to use that address as your contact information. On the other hand, if your email is DungeonMaster007@gmail.com or something similarly unprofessional, you will look, well, unprofessional.
If your personal email address is something other than your name, create a separate email address for your job search. Using a separate email address for job applications makes it less likely that a response will get lost underneath all the other daily emails you receive.
Hobbies or Interests
Hobbies and interests outside of work are essential aspects of work-life balance. Unless those activities or pursuits directly relate to the position you are applying for, they are of little interest or use at the initial resume review stage. Unless the hobby or interest increases your chances of getting an interview, do not include on your tech resume.
Company-Specific or Internal Acronyms and Names
The tech world is full of acronyms and jargon that people across the industry know and understand. But terms used internally at a specific company will mean nothing to anyone outside that organization.
A bullet point that says “Managed and implemented the EM-50 project” may as well be written in Sanskrit as far as the reviewer is concerned if they understandably have no idea what the EM-50 project is. Avoid using such jargon and include descriptive language instead.
A Wall of Words
Tech hiring managers who urgently need to fill a position must be able to find what they’re looking for about a person’s background, skills, and qualifications with as little time and effort as possible. They have to figure out in seconds who will get another look and who will get rejected.
If your resume is a dense, endless wall of words, with long paragraphs and sentences that go on forever, your resume will not receive the attention your experience deserves.
Instead, break your experience down into short, skimmable bullet points as much as possible, and save the details for your interview.
Related: Why You Need A Skimmable Resume
Exaggerations or Falsehoods
Your resume should showcase all of your best attributes and the depth and scope of your experience. But if your language goes from flattering to falsehood, it will come back to bite you. Hiring managers will find out if your resume contains exaggerations or lies about your education, skills, or experience, and thus are items you should not include on your tech resume.
Microscopic Text
In your effort to pack as much information into a one-page resume as possible, you may face the temptation to reduce the font size until the text is unreadable. While there is nothing wrong with going smaller than a standard 12- or 11-point font, going too small may result in your resume not being read at all.
Typos and Errors
If you’re looking for the quickest and most efficient way to ruin your resume, spelling errors, typos, and other avoidable mistakes are the ticket. Double and triple-check your resume and remember that spell check does not catch everything. Run your resume through a program like Grammarly, or have another set of eyes take a look before you click submit.
How A Professional Tech Recruiter Can Get Your Resume Noticed By The Best Tech Companies
One of the many services that GTN Technical Staffing provides to candidates is resume review and critique. This review ensures that when we submit your resume to top tech companies, they sit up and take notice. Are you ready to see how GTN can help you find your next great career opportunity?
