Why you must reconsider including personal information on your resume

In general, resumes contain some basic information about your career. Key skills, work experience, educational qualifications, achievements, and contact information are the most basic resume sections that we see in the majority of documents. However, some candidates decide to go a step beyond and add a personal touch by mentioning their social media accounts, hobbies and interests, and language skills on their resumes. While adding a bit of personality to your resume is a wise move, our resume experts certainly do not advise you to mention too much personal information.

Decide what your comfort level is

Different job seekers have varying opinions about the privacy of their data. Some candidates are totally okay with publicly displaying their personal information on a resume, while others balk at the thought of adding more information than is absolutely necessary. Before you start writing your resume, decide where you stand regarding the exposure of your personal information. When you mention your personal details on a resume, always remember that you will be uploading this document on the internet, where the whole world can see it.

What kinds of risks will you expose yourself to, when including personal information on your resume?

Identity theft is the biggest worry among job seekers regarding the information they put down on their resumes. Some candidates mention all kinds of personal details, which makes them easy targets for identity theft. Some things you must remove from your resume right now to protect yourself against identity theft are your social security number and full street address.

Do you use your personal email for job applications? Then, junk mail and spam are two risks that you will be exposed to. The best way to overcome this is to use a separate email address for your job search. Potential scammers are another common threat to a resume with too much personal information. If your resume contains information that a scammer can use to lure you, you should declutter your resume before entering the job search.

Protect yourself from identity theft and scams with these resume tips

While we cannot guarantee that you will be 100% safe from all the risks that come with mentioning personal details on a resume, you can take some precautions to lower those.

Make use of the confidentiality features on job boards

Many online job board sites provide confidentiality features that allow you to hide your name, address, email, phone number, and the names of current/recent employers from your resume.

Carefully choose the contact information you want to appear on your resume

Never include your full street address on a resume that you upload online, Instead, mention your city and state. Avoid using work phone numbers and work emails for your job search.

Don’t go into too much detail about personal info on your resume

You don’t need to mention your social security number, references, birth date, and other detailed personal information on your resume unless specifically requested by the employer.

Google yourself before sending out your resume

Scammers are not the only ones trying to find your social media accounts through your resume. Recheck the privacy settings of your nonwork-related social media to see what comes up during an online search for your name.