Things You May Omit

Your job objective, scope and worth point paragraphs are "musts" for your resume, there are some things that your resume can do without. Here are several.

Your Age

"Employment agencies and first-line personnel people recommend that job-seekers include their age." Of course they do! It makes it that much easier to eliminate them from consideration. But unless you're exactly the right age your prospective boss has in mind, including your age has to hurt. And unfortunately, unless an executive recruiter tells you, you have no idea whether your prospective boss wants someone older or younger than you. So why spoon-feed this information to him. Instead, make him realize you are an outstanding candidate based on your scope and worth point paragraphs. Then, let him try to figure out your age after that (based on when you completed college). Some job-seekers I counsel are reluctant to accept this suggestion. But of the thousands of candidates who have left their age off their resume, none here told me that this hurt them in their job search, while many who have omitted their age have advised me that they have been interviewed by employers who said to them that they had younger (or older) candidates in mind, but wanted to meet them because they were impressed by their resume. Keep in mind that it is against the law for employers to discriminate against any candidate because of age, or to ask for age on an employment application. Why help employers get around the law instead of trying to get them to meet you and be impressed by you in spite of your age?
Your Questionable data

Every so often I run into a resume where the candidate includes his birthplace outside of the United States. For persons applying for engineering positions that involve government contracts, this can create problems that don't need to come up until an interview (where they might be resolved). It is illegal to discriminate against candidates on the basis of their national origin. If the prospective employer has to worry about a candidate's security clearance, the time to work that out is at the interview. Don't let a prospective boss assume you might not qualify.

Some prospective employers discriminate against male candidates who are single ("they're too unsettled"), and female candidates who are newly married ("they're likely to start a family just when I've trained them"), and against both male and female candidates who are separated ("they're going through an emotional trauma and wouldn't work out on the job"). Personal prejudices run deep, and even though they are not permitted by law, exist nonetheless! If you are a candidate who falls into any of these categories and who feels compelled to include this type of information, a suggestion: bury this information in the personal section of your resume-between your hobbies and your interests. Make your prospective boss search for it, at least! And hope he discovers how competent you are before he comes across it.
Your Statement

"References will be forwarded on request" Include this line if you have the space and want to, but it's totally unnecessary to do so. This line was originally recommended a decade ago when many job-seekers actually included names, addresses and phone numbers of references on their resumes. At the time, the experts in the field counseled that giving out reference names hurt job-seekers since it would be in their best interest to force prospective employers to call and request these names in person. (With references stated on the resume, a prospective boss could check out a candidate without the candidate ever knowing he or she was being considered for the job.) Times have changed, however, and hardly any resumes written today spell out the names and addresses of references. So the line "References will be forwarded on request" is actually a relic of the past.
Your office telephone number

For many prospective employers, your office phone number rings a negative bell because it suggests either that (1) the people you work for know you're leaving, or (2) you're foolhardy enough not to care if they find out. (What if your boss answers a call for you from a headhunter?) So, whether or not you are leaving on your own, or at the request of your management, you're better off using only your home phone number.
Your salary objective, not the salary you are paid on your current job

If there's one thing I've come to realize in my years in business, it's that "salary ranges" are flexible guidelines at best. If a company really wants you, and you're absolutely the right person for the job, there is invariably a way for that company to stretch to meet your needs. Similarly, if a person really wants a job and believes it offers the potential for a lifetime career, he's likely to bend just a little bit from his own salary requirements. With these two points in mind, it makes little sense to include your salary objective or current salary in your resume. Even if your financial demands are rigid, it still is less than wise to include them on your resume. Cadillac and Lincoln ads don't mention the price tag. They sell the quality of these automobiles. The ads attempt to persuade you to go down to the showroom, where a salesman will review the car's merits in person. The hope is you'll be sufficiently impressed to put out the fourteen grand. Your resume's primary job is to get you into your prospective boss's office, where you'll have a chance to sell yourself in person.
Your photograph

To men, a girl in a slinky black negligee appears sexier than the same girl in her birthday suit. The slinky negligee leaves something mysterious, unknown, and unstated, for curiosity to dwell on. The same holds true for your resume. If you give away everything, there's nothing left to tantalize. One thing you can and should hold back is your photograph.

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Things You May Omit