Take THIS Off Your Resume ASAP

I've been giving this one piece of advice for YEARS. But, it wasn't until this week that the hypothetical became real and I somehow became even more passionate about it. Why? Your safety is actually at risk with this one component on your resume. Before I get to that real life scary situation, here's the advice:

Do NOT put your home address on your resume. If it's on there right now, open the file and delete it so you don't forget. 

I've had numerous reasons for this advice over the years. The least important being that it is outdated. No one needs your address anymore to contact you. You have a cellphone and an email address. Ask a recruiter and they'll tell you, they don't need to mail you anything.

However, I always share that it is for your safety not to put your home address on a file that is no longer printed and mailed/turned in to a company. You're sending a digital file (tip: a PDF is what they want) and that can end up in anyone's inbox.

Case in point. I was asking in a forum for some red flags that have come up in interview and one woman shared that the day after she was interviewed by multiple people, she got a direct message from one of the interviewers on LinkedIn.

He wasn't asking about her resume or following up. He was asking her out. This is, obviously, a red flag.

Worse, she realized he had her resume. Her resume had her home address at the top.

My heart sank when I read that. I can't imagine how she felt.

I understand why someone would leave their address on their resume. First, it was taught that way for decades. Not only that, but sometimes you need a potential employer to know you are local to their company or that you're relocating there.In either case, simply list the City and State. You could say "relocating to City, State" if you want to be that specific.

This is no longer hypothetical to me. There are real icky people out there. Don't tell them where you live.

Okay, I can breathe a sigh of relief now that I've shared this on my blog. And, if you haven't downloaded my free guide "7 Things to Take Off Your Resume Right Now"...spoiler alert...this is one of the seven. Don't miss out on the other 6 most common resume mistakes that I see.