Safety first, friends!
Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was an expectation that job seekers would include their home address on their resume. Students were advised by career services offices to include both their permanent and temporary addresses so potential employers knew where they were from. Today, in January 2021, there’s no longer a need to include this information on your resume.
The first line of your resume should be your name. That’s the same as always! Make sure it’s prominent and the largest font on the page. It doesn’t have to be huge, just make sure that it stands out and is bolded. Beneath that, you should include your cell phone number and your email address. You can put them on the same line to save on space so you can really utilize the remainder of your document to emphasize all of your successes. Instead of including your street address in this contact section of your resume, you could instead write the name of the city you currently live in. Alternatively, you could add your LinkedIn URL to the contact section so recruiters can learn more about career experiences and you can get around that pesky size limit by including more details to your LinkedIn profile.
If you’re wondering, “so… how will an employer know where I reside if I don’t include that information on my resume?” Remember, your address is always included in your application. There are so many remote positions, especially during this COVID-era, that where you live is becoming less important to corporations. As long as you’re living in a location where they have a tax entity (a location of some kind) this shouldn’t be an issue.
Overall, adding your address is an old-school practice. We advise our clients against including it because you never know how many hands your resume will pass through allowing everyone who sees it to know where you live. From a safety standpoint, it puts you at risk and from a practical standpoint, it just isn’t necessary.
For help with your resume, book a critique with us at https://stevielcoleman.com/work-with-me/
