THINGS TO REMOVE FROM YOUR CV IN 2023
By The Real CV Guru

1. Career Objective - When you start your CV off with a Career Objective, it shifts the focus away from what YOU can do / why they should hire you / what problem you can solve. Most career objectives are generic and only provide the reader with what YOU are seeking or looking for. "Seeking a role that will enable me to utilise my skills within a growing company". Sound familiar? Do not make the intro about what you want, but rather what makes you the best candidate in relation to the role you're applying for.

2. Personal Information - This includes your Home Address, ID Number, number of dependents, health info, date of birth, marital status, religion, etc. What else am I missing?

3. Photo. Unless a huge part of you getting the job is dependent on your looks, then leave this off. Recruiters, like everyone else, have inherent biases, and you don't want to be a position where focus is drawn on your appearance, rather than your actual skills, experience etc.

4. Additional documents. DO NOT combine any documents such as your certificates, copy of your ID to your CV. Your CV should be a file on its own. If the job application requests the docs to be sent, then attach them as seperate files.

5. Buzzwords. These are words that, as a result of being over-used, have now lost their impact. Words/phrases such as, "hard-working, "motivated", "punctual", "diligent". Imagine when Hiring Managers / recruiters have to scan through dozens of CVs, and every candidate claims to be a "hard-working and motivated individual"? It does nothing to help you stand out from other candidates.

6. Graphics such as logos, charts and tables. These might be great for a human to look at, but not for the robot (ATS) that needs to initially scan your CV when you've applied online. These kind of graphics are unreadable to the ATS (depending on which ATS it is).

7. Unnecessary fluff. Your CV does not need a cover page and it doesn't need the title, "Curriculum Vitae of...". Recruiters spend less than 6 seconds reviewing each CV. You’ve got 6 seconds to show them that it’s worth their time to continue reading. Get to the point!

8. Long paragraphs. These will make your CV hard to read. Your intro summary should be 2 - 3 sentences MAX. Your responsibilities should always be in bullet point form. And please, DO NOT copy all that text from your cover letter and include it on your CV.

9. Your life story. Your resume should not resemble a Wikipedia page, with details of every single thing you've done throughout your existence. Essentially, it should resemble the landing page of a website. Your Unique Value Proposition should be clearly articulated. It should follow a clear, readable structure. Succinct. Straight to the point.

10. E-mail address from your current employer. It really is unprofessional, and more than that, leads the recruiter / Hiring Manager to believe that you apply for jobs during company time.