CVs have undergone a significant change in the past years, just like searching for jobs. In this article we will have a closer look at CVs. In our first blog post we will discuss about information that should not be written in a CV.

Not too many years ago CVs were identical to written letters. Then, ‘American-style’ CVs has taken them over, which contains information such as studies, work experience and knowledge in bulleted lists. In the evolution of CVs the individuality of an applicant has become very important (and it is so until today), that is, the attributes of the applicant which raise him/her among the others. However, while trying to be individual, the candidate risks sharing too much information in the CV that are irrelevant to the position. Without limitation here are five details which should be kept out of an application:

1) too detailed personal data

It is wise to give information that is essential for the application, and not giving any of those which can cause setbacks for us, or not important. Providing contact information like phone number and email address is vital, as these are the channels through which the hiring company can get in touch. Although our home address can be a form of contact by mail, it is not recommended to write it in our CV, since it can hinder us among other applicants. Our place of birth is also irrelevant, as it may also make our application worse in case we no longer live there, and it does not affect our competences re the position either.

2) Elementary school

Including the elementary school in our studies is rarely relevant, since only those studies matter in an application that are related to the position. Elementary school is not one of them. Today competences and work experience are the factors which have decisive influence on the employer’s judgement, not where the candidate studied.

3) Irrelevant studies

Not only elementary school is unnecessary to mention in the CV, but also studies that are not directly related to the position. It can happen that we have various certifications in multiple areas, but we do not have work experience in all of them. It is wise to focus more on studies relevant to the position, or promoted the acquisition of experience and knowledge required for the position.

4) All our workplaces so far

It is a misbelief that by listing all our workplaces we seem more experienced, even those that belong to entirely different areas of expertise than which we applied for. If we gained the required experience in areas similar to the position, it is more sensible to list only those – elaborating on the tasks.

5) Short-term jobs

This overlaps the previous example, but we should deal with it separately to look at the question from a different aspect. Short-term jobs, that is, places where we worked for a few weeks or months are only viable to mention in the CV if they resulted in acquiring competences or experience that will make us stand out from other applicants. As mentioned earlier, listing many jobs does not tell about a wide range of experience. It can even suggest that we cannot or will not work at one place for long.

In the next article we will analyze errors that can greatly make our chances worse in an application.

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