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Four Points That Will Weaken Your Resume

Many job seekers mistakenly think they should pack their resume with their every skill, hobby, and award. Like, you played in the 2019 Fortnite tournament. Or you can knot a cherry stem in your mouth. Or your chameleon won Most Beautiful Reptile at the County Fair. …and now you’re just spitballing for relevance. What’s not relevant: any skill that doesn’t directly relate to the job you’re applying for. And since your resume is only as strong as its weakest point, you had better cut back those extras.

Start by leaving these items off your resume:

Basic computer skills. This one surprises a lot of people who are used to putting “Microsoft Office” on their resumes, but the truth is, computers have been around for a long time now. Recruiters expect you to know your way around email and word processing, so don’t take up valuable resume space with these fluff skills. Do mention if you’ve gone above and beyond in a standard program, such as creating Access databases or complex Excel spreadsheets.
High school language studies. Any language on your resume is a job skill. That means you should be able to speak the language fluently and use it on the job. Those Spanish classes you took in high school don’t belong on your resume unless you can converse like a native; basic understanding just doesn’t cut it.
Social media skills not used for work. If you’ve launched a social media campaign as part of your job duties, then by all means, include it on your resume. But if your “social media management” really means or “I post lip-synch videos on TikTok,” that doesn’t count as a job skill. Managing your personal social media profile is very different from overseeing a company social media strategy!
Lies. Job descriptions use keywords for a reason; they are the skills candidates need to succeed in the job. If the job requires you to use complex statistics and accounting but you barely passed algebra, how successful would you be if you lied to get hired? When a lie seems tempting, remember that even a small fib can ruin your reputation. It only takes one quick question to catch you in a lie.

Your resume doesn’t need to tell your life story from birth. By focusing your resume on what’s relevant to the job at hand, you’ll keep recruiters’ eyes on the good stuff you have to offer!

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