Resume writing is an art form to be mastered over the course of time. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have time to spend researching resume formats, writing rough drafts and editing our career histories. But you don’t necessarily have to master the practice – you just need to know what information to leave in and what details to remove.

Career Objective

One of the most outdated elements of the standard resume appears at the top of the first page. The career objective usually exists as one or two sentences that describe your purpose. For many, especially entry-level or temp-to-hire employees, the objective is to simply gain employment.

Don’t be long winded while writing your career objective. Three or four sentences that describe how you got started, how you’ve progressed and the current state of your career is much more effective than listing any sort of objective.

Older Work Experience

There was a time when employers wanted to see precise details on every job you’ve ever held. In fact, this practice is still common in some industries. For others, like manufacturing and similar professions, this level of detail is simply unnecessary. Instead of listing every job throughout your career, use your resume to focus on your most relevant and recent experience. Experience that is older than 10 or 15 years can probably be summarized or in some cases, omitted entirely.

Sensitive or Confidential Information

Older generations used to pack as much information as possible onto a standard resume, including home phone numbers, addresses, and even social security numbers. While it’s still important to give your potential employers a way to contact you, you never want to include sensitive information like your social security number. If your resume happens to fall into the wrong hands, they would have all the information needed to steal your identity.

Some job seekers don’t include their home address for this very reason. It’s unlikely an employer will contact you via postal mail or a home visitation to give you a job offer, so a phone number and email will usually suffice when listing your contact details.

References

Although you’ll still want to have a separate sheet of paper with three or four professional references listed, these contacts simply don’t hold the amount of weight as they used to. In fact, you don’t even have to list “References Available Upon Request” – if an employer wants to see a list of references, they’ll ask.

Highlighting Your Qualities in Two Pages or Less

Finally, make sure your resume is as concise and straightforward as possible. Two pages are the absolute limit for standard resumes of today, but many prefer the one-page format. Not only does this give you enough space to highlight the most important aspects of your career and skill set, it lets any hiring managers or Automation recruiters identify your top qualities right off the bat.

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