For job seekers, the resume may be the most important document they need. After all, what’s on that simple piece of paper can mean the difference between landing an interview and landing back home. While most job seekers concentrate on what they should include on their resume, few pay attention to what they shouldn’t include. This article explores things you should never put on your resume.

Cheesy e-mail accounts

E-mail accounts are free. There’s no reason not to sign up for your own. Yet many mid-career professionals share an e-mail account with a significant other or the entire family, generating addresses such as jinaayush@ domain.com or theshresthas@ domain.com. Also stay away from sugary addresses such as me_ machosushan@domain.com. And same goes for offensive, flirtatious or sexual e-mail addresses. Instead, adopt an address that incorporates the name you use professionally on your resume and cover letter.

Achievements that aren’t achievements

Being nominated prom king is not an achievement. And that award you won in a competitive momo eating competition? That’s right-not an achievement. Stick to professional and community service awards only.

Strange hobbies

It’s fine to include a hobby or interest or two, as long as they aren’t the type to raise eyebrows. Avoid listing hobbies such as binge watching How I Met Your Mother and exploring random places on google earth. Stick to less detailed and more generic hobbies, like reading, gardening, mountain biking and playing tennis. Keep them to a minimum and make sure not to include pastimes with affiliations that are religious, political or anything considered culturally radical.

Photographs (unless asked for)

Hiring managers don’t – and should not care if you have ripped abs or a smoking body, so don’t create the mistake of attaching your pictures along with your resume unless you are an actor or a model. You do not want to give anyone a reason to prejudge and form a negative opinion based on your appearance.

Salary history

Salary is an issue you can discuss with the employer during an interview or once you have been offered the job; you do not want to establish a salary range before you have even been offered an interview. So, don’t list your current salary or the salary you expect to earn at a new job.

Spelling errors, typos and poor grammar

Describing yourself as a ‘verrry’ detailed oriented person in your resume is likely to get no other reaction than a ‘yeah right’. This ‘no no’ should be obvious but it surprisingly isn’t. So what do you do? Either make use of the spell checker on your desktop or have your friend review it for you!

Using Lazy words

Use of etc. on a resume is a sign of laziness. It will make the recruiter feel as though you can’t even take the time to list out all of your duties. If you had similar job functions at your last two jobs, summarize the responsibilities and then bullet out some of your accomplishments.

So there you have it! Avoid these mistakes to ensure your resume gives a good first impression. Good luck in your job search!

Words: Samyukta Dawadi