Does Your Résumé Contain Too Much Information?

When many sit down to craft their résumé, a common practice is to include all the information that can be squeezed onto the page. Often, our perspective is that the more information our resume contains, the better. After all, including all of your past work experience will increase your odds of showing how qualified you are for a certain position, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case—but is a common mistake many job seekers make. In reality, an overabundance of irrelevant, wordy, or extraneous details can actually hurt your chances of securing an interview. In fact, too much information can cause a résumé to look cluttered, and most recruiters or hiring managers won’t read beyond the professional summary if the page appears too “busy”.

Why does skimability matter?

Because of the Internet, the way we read is vastly different from even 10 years ago. We skim, glancing over the content—and if we aren’t instantly engaged, we move on to something else. Similarly with résumé layout and design, if the document looks uninteresting or there’s just too much going on, it’ll quickly be tossed aside.

Since the way we read is different, we have to change the way we write, as well. Instead of writing lengthy sentences that say very little with a lot of words, we want to write shorter, tighter, and leaner sentences that say a lot with fewer words. One way to accomplish this is to remove articles, like “the”, “by”, “a”, or “an”. These words tend to take up room without contributing any meaning. Rather than, “I had the highest sales by selling more mattresses and couches every month”, try: “Maintained top sales for three months.” Now, instead of a thirteen-word sentence, you have a six-word statement that expresses the same thing.

Should I spell out all words, phrases, and terms?

Using common acronyms and abbreviations saves valuable space on the page to include another reference or showcase your accomplishments. A good rule of thumb is to abbreviate state names and degrees. You can simply put BA in English Literature rather than write out Bachelor’s of Art. These sorts of abbreviations are common. It is also important to consider your industry-specific terms and other jargon that can be abbreviated after the first reference that spells out that term in full. This is called the “first reference rule”. If you are applying only to jobs within your current industry, industry-specific acronyms are acceptable without following the “first reference” rule. For example, if you have worked in the medical field and are applying for another job in the medical field, use medical-specific acronyms. You can be confident that the hiring manager will understand exactly what CPR or DSM-5 means.

Are minor details detracting from your “WOW” statements?

Don’t include every detail or task of your previous positions. Although you may briefly discuss your responsibilities, the focus should be on your achievements. And certainly, if you do include a brief description of daily tasks, some just aren’t as important as others. For instance, if your previous job title is Customer Service Representative, you don’t need to include that you interact with customers. That’s implied in the title. Instead, use the space to describe what made you stand out in each of those previous jobs. “Increased sales by 36% in one quarter” is much more impressive and will really WOW whomever is reading your résumé.

Once you’ve followed these steps, make sure to go back through your résumé and edit. Check for minor spelling or title errors and grammatical fluency. For more help on cleaning up your résumé, be sure to contact us. You may click here to see what career services The Writique has to offer.