Most Personal Information on Resume is Unnecessary or Disdained

Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume contains personal information. Mature job-seekers may remember a time when including personal information on a resume was standard practice. This information often included height, weight, birth date, social security number, marital status, children, and health status (as if anyone would admit on a resume to health that was less than excellent). Today’s hiring managers do not want to see this information because it raises discrimination issues. Doreen Perri-Gynn, associate vice president of human resources at Yang Ming (America) Corp., doesn’t want to know “if you have three children and your wife is a happy homemaker or your husband an accountant. This is extraneous information that may prevent a manager from hiring you because he/she wants to keep his benefits budget down.” Since this type of information is still often included on resumes and CVs outside the U.S., Perri-Gynn advises Europeans when applying in the US to “kindly leave off the picture, and family information. We do not require your children’s names, ages, schools, wife’s maiden name and who her parents are. The U.S. bases hiring criteria on skills and accomplishments.”
See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.