What to include on your résumé — and what to leave out!

A solid résumé is your chance to let your skills, experience, and credentials shine. It’s one of the first impressions your potential future employer will have of you. So it’s critical you include the right pieces of information — and don’t bury them beneath tidbits that shouldn’t be in there! Our experts from YMCA Employment Services are back with the second blog in a four-part series they created to help you craft your ultimate résumé.

Once you figure out the résumé format that suits you best, the next step is filling in all the key things employers are looking for.

What sections should I include?

Usually, your résumé will include the following sections:

• Name and contact information


• Employment Objective


• Summary of Skills/Qualifications


• Employment Experience


• Education


• Volunteer Experience

If you’re using a functional or combination résumé format, you’ll also include a “Relevant Skills” section.

What goes in each section?

They key thing to remember when creating your résumé is that it’s a tool to land you an interview. You should include information that persuades employers to invite you for a job interview. Then, in the interview itself, you can get into a lot more detail about your achievements, experience, and the assets you bring to the job.

Some of the key elements we help our clients add to their résumés include:

• Position title and company name. Make sure you include both for each of your previous jobs in the Employment Experience section of your résumé. Employers want to know where you’ve worked in the past and what your role was.


• Skills that are aligned with the position you’re applying for. Mention the ones described in the job posting.


• Professional language. This one is less about the information itself and more about how you present it. Use general statements that do not include the word “I.” For example, you might write: “Active listener who can solve problems quickly.”

What information isn’t suitable for a résumé?

Here are a few things we see a lot on job seekers’ résumés that really shouldn’t be there. Employers do not (and, in many cases, are bound by regulations to not) use the following pieces of information to determine whether you are a suitable candidate who should be invited for an interview.

• Height, weight, headshot, or anything else that describes your physical appearance.


• Race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, political and/or religious affiliation and other protected grounds from discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code.


• Reason for leaving your last position. An employer might ask you this in a job interview, but you don’t need to include your reasoning on your résumé.


• Social Insurance Number (SIN). Most of the time, you will be asked to provide your SIN after you have accepted a job offer and are filling out paperwork with HR.


• Salary expectations. Some employers may bring this up in an interview, or you might have an opportunity to discuss it when you are offered a position.

Still not sure what to include and leave off of your résumé? Our YMCA Employment experts are here to help! Book your free virtual appointment today.