What details do you NOT need to include in your CV?

We've seen a fair few CVs, everyone's is different. CV's are an opportunity to express yourself and show who you are as a person, but sometimes job searchers can go too far. Employers and agencies alike will try to judge your character within the first few seconds of reading your CV, so make sure what they take away from it is the right thing. Anything above two pages may not be read in full or suggests you cannot effectively compress information, so aim within two pages.  We love to be able to find out more about you and appreciate it can be hard to try to accomplish this within two pages, but, follow our top tips in what not to include in your CV to increase your success.

Height and Weight

You don't need to provide information on your height and weight, there are very few, if any, jobs that will or can discriminate on that basis. It also doesn't tell us anything about your skills or character, so this isn't something you need to include. Save yourself space and time, and instead compress information about yourself that will be applicable to the role in question.

Picture

We've heard differing advice, but we don't think a profile picture is necessary on your CV. Although it shows us what you look like, again it doesn't tell us much about your skills, passion or expertise. Moreover, employers cannot discriminate on what you look like, whether that's choosing to hire you or not on the basis of your looks. There are very few jobs which can discriminate on looks, and that regards acting and modelling understandably. What we recommend is a link to your LinkedIn account, where it contains space for a profile picture - make sure this picture has good lighting and looks profile (i.e. no Snapchat filters or you on a night out).

Hobbies and Interests

You should always include a small part about yourself and what you enjoy doing out of work, write about what you like to do, your passions and your interests. Employers and agencies may use this information to see if you're a good cultural fit within an organisation. Make sure this segment is unique, eye-catching and revealing about you as a person. However, exercise with caution and make sure your hobbies and interests don't take up more than half a page - although this is important - many will only skim over this part. Also, put this at the bottom of your CV, your skills, education and expertise are more important in landing an interview as opposed to going to Football every weekend (unless of course the role is in Football!).

Primary School

You don't need to put information about what primary school you attended, what Employers are looking for is secondary school and grades. Make sure you condense your information in an effective way as well, and there is no need to write a blurb on the secondary school you attended, such as ranked top 100 in the UK.  Write down your grades in a clear and concise fashion. Again, employers and agencies are looking for this information quickly in order to see whether you are a good fit. Make sure your education is ranked in order of most recent as well, with the latest at the top. 

Place or Date of Birth

Employers cannot discriminate on where you come from or date of birth, the latter being age discrimination. We would strongly recommend you stipulate whether you have a right to work in the country you're applying for and if you need sponsorship however, as all Employers will ask this. 

Work Experience placements (when you were 16)

This is also debatable, but adding work experience placements we don't find necessary unless it is relevant to the role or you gained a lot of experience. By work experience, we are not referring to internships or one's completed at university,  rather we're referring to work experience when you're 15 or 16 which often lasts a week or a fortnight, and in the UK, students are required to do it. Only put this on your CV in a clear concise manner, without taking up too much space, and emphasize the points that are relevant. If you have been working for over 2 years, it is not as important on your CV what you did when you were 15 or 16.

IT Graduate Recruitment specialises in placing graduates of the STEM discipline within IT and technology roles. We work closely with the top employers in the UK and help graduates leaving university start their future careers. Speak to us for more details or visit our vacancy page. 

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