Sometimes, it feels tempting to include as much as possible on a resume. After all, more information means better chances, right? Wrong. Depending on the information you include, you may find that hiring managers are actually turned off by your resume. So before going out on a ledge and taking too many chances, let’s take a look at some items that you can indeed leave off of your resume.

Your Interests and Hobbies

Unless your interests or hobbies are directly related to your career aspirations – and the specific position – there’s no need to add them to your resume. The fact that you love to walk along the beach at night and play Eric Clapton songs on your guitar is great for personal character building, but not so much so for a human resources position or the like.

Your Picture

Another item that you don’t need to add to your resume is your picture. Nowadays, if you have some type of online presence, it’s likely that your picture will pop up anyway. Leave the headshots out of your resume unless you’re an actor, and refrain from adding a picture unless your potential employer asks for one.

Your References

There was a time that placing your references right on the resume was customary. Then over time, this practice stopped and the simple statement “References available upon request” was used instead. However, since then, experts have noted that neither the references, nor the statement is necessary. Hiring managers are knowledgeable people, and if they really need a reference, they won’t hesitate to ask for one.

Your Self-Centered Objective

While you may think that the best type of objective is one that starts with “To gain experience in…” many employers are not interested in what you want to gain experience in. They want to know what you can do for them. So in your objective, rather than starting with the previous statement, it’s good to create a summary of your qualifications by displaying your accomplishments and background.

Your Personal Details

Something else that you can leave off of your resume is your personal details, such as your height, weight, age, race or religion. Similar to sending an employer your headshot, personal details are much more than they need to know in order to determine whether you’re a good fit. So again, unless you’re in the entertainment business, you can leave the personal details off of your resume.

Menial Details

Sometimes it’s tempting to include every detail of your previous job that you remember being responsible for. Hiring managers would rather see major points of interest than read through your whole career to try to sift out the critical parts. You’ll stand a much better chance of getting a gig if you decide to only include major accomplishments and facts that build up your hireability.

Remember, hiring managers are busy people who don’t want to dig to find what they want to know. So the cleaner and more focused you can make your resume, the better your chances will be of getting a call back.