A former recruiter has shared the 9 things you should never put on your CV if you want to guarantee job success every single time – as employers hate seeing them
Job hunting can be a daunting task, especially when it feels like you’ve sent your CV and cover letter to every company with vacancies in your area, yet you’re still waiting for a response. Regardless of whether you’re chasing your dream job or simply need something to pay the bills, having a top-notch CV is crucial. It’s the first thing potential employers will scrutinise, so regardless of the role, your CV needs to shine amongst the rest.
Knowing what to include in your CV can be tricky. We all know it should detail any relevant experience from past jobs or education, but beyond that, it often varies depending on how much space you have left and which skills and qualities you want to highlight.
However, according to a former recruiter, there are certain things you should absolutely avoid including on your CV.
After leaving her recruitment role, Sophie now imparts career advice on TikTok. In a recent video, she revealed the 9 things she always “hated” seeing on people’s CVs.
1. Full addresses
Sophie advised the address section of your CV should only ever contain the town, city, or county where you reside. She explained that recruiters don’t need to know “what your street and house number are” during the application stage.
2. Unprofessional email addresses
When submitting your CV to a potential employer, ensure it originates from an email address bearing a professional name. Your complete name or a combination of your initials would be most suitable for this purpose, as Sophie highlighted you should never utilise addresses such as “little owl at Gmail dot com” for professional communications.
3. Selfies
Certain individuals opt to enhance their CV with a photograph. While this is typically acceptable, Sophie emphasised it must be a professional image or one that demonstrates you in the position you’re seeking. It should never be a selfie or a “photo of you and your dog”.
4. Personal details
The former recruiter explained your CV isn’t the appropriate place to divulge personal information such as your marital status, as this frequently isn’t pertinent to the position and can be discussed during your interview if it becomes relevant.
5. Using the word ‘I’
Your CV should feature a concise personal statement, but this shouldn’t contain the word ‘I’. Sophie said: “Instead, you want to start off with action verbs such as ‘spearheaded’ or ‘consulted’.”
6. References available on request
This represents a typical phrase to append to the bottom of a CV rather than including your reference information, as this frequently consumes excessive space. Nevertheless, Sophie noted recruiters understand they can request references from you and don’t require being informed.
7. Job Responsibilities
The ex-recruiter advised making your employment history more robust. She suggested not merely listing your duties in each role, but rather discussing “what the impact was that you had on your role”, supported by quantitative data.
8. Lengthy CVs
Your CV should not exceed one page. Sophie mentioned she could occasionally extend to two pages if the candidate had a wealth of pertinent experience, but one page should be the standard target.
9. Pastimes
Sophie’s final point was that a generic list of hobbies on your CV is unnecessary. She acknowledged this might “depend a little bit” on the company you’re applying to and whether any of your hobbies are relevant to the job.
However, she stated: “In general, if you’re playing tennis on the weekend, it doesn’t make a difference to the recruiter.”