12 Things You Should Never Put on a Resume
What you leave off a resume matters as much as what you include. These items either trigger bias-avoidance policies, waste space, or quietly date you.
Personal data that doesn't belong
- A photo — standard in parts of Latin America and Europe, actively discouraged in the US and Canada.
- Date of birth, marital status, nationality — employers cannot legally consider them.
- Full street address — city and state are enough.
Content that hurts you
- Salary history or expectations — negotiate later, from a stronger position.
- "References available upon request" — assumed; the line just wastes space.
- Every job you've ever had — a resume is relevance, not history. Fifteen-year-old roles rarely earn their space.
- Unrelated hobbies — keep only what supports the application.
Formatting that backfires
- Skill bars and star ratings — ATS software cannot read them, and "4/5 stars in Excel" means nothing.
- Dense paragraphs — recruiters skim; bullets win.
- An unprofessional email address — firstname.lastname beats partyking2004.