16/03/2025
Things to remove from your CV.
1. Career Objective: Avoid starting your CV with a generic career objective that focuses on what you seek rather than highlighting your value to the role. You can include an objective if you are doing a career pivot or if you are a fresh graduate.
2. Personal Information: Omit details like home address, ID number, dependents, health info, date of birth, marital status, and religion. Adding this information on a CV may pose a concern for discrimination during the recruitment process.
3. Photo: Unless appearance is crucial for the job like the hospitality industry, exclude photos to prevent bias and keep the focus on your skills and experience. Some countries may require photos so you need to also do your research.
4. Additional Documents: Don't combine certificates, ID copies, etc., with your CV. Keep your CV as a standalone file. Combining the documents may disadvantage you especially in this era of using bots during initial screening.
5. Buzzwords: Steer clear of overused terms like "hard-working" and "motivated" to avoid blending in with other candidates. Instead include action verbs that tallies with the impact you want to bring out on your CV.
6. Graphics: This may make your CV clumsy or too beautiful but lacking proper value based content. Also some ATS systems may struggle with graphics, so skip logos, charts, and tables that could hinder initial scanning.
7. Unnecessary Fluff: Remove cover pages, titles like "Curriculum Vitae of...", and anything that doesn't contribute to a concise, impactful CV. Remember a Recruiter has 6 six to skim through your CV in order to make a decision so you need to make it short and straight to the point.
8. Long Paragraphs: Break information into bullet points for readability. Keep introductory summaries and responsibilities brief. Also, don’t make the bullets too long.
9. Life Story: Your CV isn't a Wikipedia page. Focus on a clear structure and a succinct Unique Value Proposition, resembling a website's landing page.
10. Work Email Address: Using your current employer's email is unprofessional. Opt for a personal email to maintain a polished image.
