How Much Information On Your Resume Is Too Much?

We're in an era where relaxed standards and sharing a lot about oneself is much more the norm than ever before. Standards have relaxed on television, people on the job are much more comfortable risqué topics and you may even be able to cross the line with professional associates into religion and politics without offending someone.

However, how much information is too much, especially when it comes to your resume? Just because you're willing to share a few details about yourself on Facebook, does this mean you want the world to know your home address? When getting resume writing assistance, you'll probably be advised on ways to avoid over-disclosing personal details. However, if you're going at it alone, you may need a little help.

Exercise Discretion before Disclosure

One common practice for many job seekers is to use online job boards to present their resume to potential recruiters. Taking this route offers a great opportunity to get nationwide exposure for your resume; however, it is just as effective in spreading your personal details, including birth date home phone number and address.

A way to get around this is to use a P.O. box as your address instead of your personal street address. Also, you could just list your city and state as your address. Either of these options would require that employers request your full address personally - a great for to only disclose this information to those who need it.

Utilize Confidentiality Features

Another great way to avoid sharing too much information is to sign up for privacy or confidentiality features on the job boards you're using. For instance, Monster.com offers a confidentiality feature that can hide your name, street and email address, phone number and even that name of your current/most recent employer. With using this feature, however, it's good to know that uploaded documents are not likely protected, which means you'll need to manually remove personal details before uploading.

In a world where identity theft and scammers are out to get the weakest links, it's best to be as private as possible at all times. So as you post your resume to invite recruiters, be sure that you're not also inviting predators as well.