The Job Seeker's Guide: 5 Things to Remove from Your Resume, TODAY!

Many of our candidates come from far and wide, and the sets of rules for what is acceptable on a resume is always ambiguous because things differ from one place to another! So here's our take on 5 Things to REMOVE from your Resume, when applying for jobs in the Vancouver market (and probably all around in North America)! We've also come up with a name for our job hunting series, and we're calling it our Job Seeker's Guide!

1) Birthday/Age

We find that it’s quite common outside of North America to include this information on your resume. For our purposes?: Don't.

2) Marital status

To be quite honest, we really just don't need to know. 

3) A Long Detailed List of Interests

This is a bit of a grey area and depends on the kind of roles you’d like to land, with the more formal positions being the least appropriate platforms for oversharing. The optional “Interests” section highlights a handful of good interview conversation starters, potential commonalities, or eye-catching facts from your personal history. This is a good place to include involvement in sport or the arts, but not the greatest place to go into great detail about your love for hiking (even though we may love it too!)

4) Your Profile Picture 

Some places around the world may require this but for North America, there’s really no reason to include your photos on your resume when applying for any position within Canada. We'd recommend uploading your photo onto your LinkedIn page instead! 

5) Overwhelming Designs

Unless you’re applying for a position that is specifically in graphic design, leave the bold resume designs aside. Having to look through over the top resumes will only make HR Managers' lives harder. If anything, set aside the percentages and pie charts, and keep it to the listing. Knowing you're only 83% good at a certain task, isn't exactly a selling point.

If you’re unsure how to format your resume, well- we might just have another blog post coming up BUT for the time being see these resources, HERE:

What Your Resume Should Look Like in 2017

Resume Samples - Monster 

3 Resume Summary Examples That'll Make Writing Your Own Easier

So what are you waiting for? Time to edit!

Find us on @ArlynRecruiting or add us on LinkedIn where we post exclusive job postings! 

Ready to get out there and interview? Let's get you going on your search! Check out our job postings today! For more on our Job Seeker's Guide Series, click here! 

Our approach to Legal Recruitment is different. Once you get to know us you’ll see just what we mean. We are the only legal recruitment agency in Vancouver that offers the full range of Human Resources services, including recruiting, training, and consulting advice tailored to your unique firm’s needs: everything from performance management to policy development.

We take the time to make the match and our intuitive ability combined with our solid foundation in Human Resources allows us to put the right person in the right job. We are honest with everyone, both clients and applicants.

Our commitment to building long term relationships with our clients and candidates is at the heart of our approach to legal recruiting. At Arlyn Recruiting, we believe we are the best legal recruitment agency in Vancouver for jobs including lawyer positions, paralegals, legal assistants and temps.

So if you’re ready to see how we can help you make the right career choice for you send us your resume today!