Five Things Never Put On Your CV!

You may have seen many articles from recruiters and career advisors on what you MUST include in your CV.

I thought covering five things that should NOT be put on your CV would be helpful.

My name is Tony Line. I run Kent Recruitment Bureau and The JobsBoard, a job advertising platform. I have been working in the industry for over twenty years, so I have seen a lot of CVs.

I want to cover these five things because they will not necessarily affect your success in applying for a job; they mainly involve data theft and scams. Leaving these five things off your CV will protect you and save you a lot of hassle, giving you more time to get on with your job search.

When sending your CV out to a recruitment agency or directly to an employer, they only need to know personal information up to a certain level. Giving out more than you need could open you up to data theft, impersonation and more. Once you send your CV out, do you know where it is going?

Five things never put on your CV!

Full name. A potential employer or recruiter only needs to know who you are. They do not need your middle name(s). Tony Line is fine; Antony Jonathan Line is too much.

Full address. Putting the town where you live, e.g. Canterbury, is enough information at this stage to decide whether you live closer enough to commute to a new place of work. We can move to the full address when a new employer wants to send you a job offer letter.

Date of birth. Not including your date of birth has nothing to do with deciding that you are too old for a job. Age should not be a discriminating factor, but a potential employer could work it out from your employment and education dates. No, leave your date of birth off because it is one of those vital pieces of data required when you apply for anything official. Openly disclosing it with your full name and address takes a fraudster a long way down the road to impersonating you.

NI numbers. If you are going to work through an employment agency on a temporary contract, they will need your NI number to register you and put you on their payroll. However, it is not required for the CV application stage. It is another vital piece of data that you do not want the wrong people to see.

Kid’s or pet’s names. This may seem an odd one, but let me explain. Applicants sometimes include a CV section about themselves – “I like spending time with my two daughters, Sarah and Sally”, or “I love going for walks with my poodles, Dasher and Prancer.” This information is mostly irrelevant to your ability to do the job, but it does give away something. How many of you use your kid’s or your pet’s names as your IT passwords?

I have seen plenty of CVs with all of this information and more. Some applicants even include their bank details – I have no idea why.

Keep the information you are giving away to the minimum necessary, and keep yourself safe!

5 Things to never put on your CV! It was written by Tony Line, who manages The JobsBoard and Kent Recruitment Bureau.