How to Remove Bias from Your Resume

🧳 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁? 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁? 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝘀 🇺🇸 I’ve reviewed thousands of resumes in my career, and as someone who also moved countries and had to learn how to “translate” my experience — I get it. It’s not easy. Here are 3️⃣ resume tips I wish more international job seekers knew when applying to roles in the U.S.: 🔹 1. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 & 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 🖼️📮 In the U.S., resumes are kept bias-conscious. That means: ❌ No photo ❌ No full mailing address ✅ Just include: - City & State 🗺️ - Email 📧 - LinkedIn profile 🔗 - Portfolio (if relevant) 💼 🔹 2. 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 🌍➡️🇺🇸 Titles like “Mid-Level Engineer” or “Developer II” might make sense elsewhere — but here they can confuse hiring teams. Stick to industry-standard U.S. titles like: - Software Engineer 💻 - Backend Developer 🧠 - QA Analyst 🧪 - Product Manager 📊 🔹 3. 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 🔍 Find 3 roles from 3 different companies that match your background. Look for patterns in: 📝 Keywords 🧩 Skills 📈 Impact Then, use that 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 when describing what you’ve done. 💡 If all 3 mention “cross-functional teams,” and you’ve done that — say it like that. 🔁 Resumes don’t just tell your story — they help others understand it. If you're rewriting yours for the U.S. job market, I hope this gives you a starting point. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 🌎💪 #ImmigrantVoices #ResumeTips #JobSearchUSA #WomenInTech #TechCareers #RecruiterPerspective #JobSearchJourney

3 resume moves people think help... but actually signal age (and invite unconscious age bias). I get asked these questions constantly: "Is it ethical to leave old jobs off my resume?" "Should I remove dates from my degrees?" "How do I show relevant experience from 20 years ago without aging myself?" The answer to all of them: Yes, you can. And you should. Your resume is a marketing document, not a legal record. You're not required to include everything. You're required to be truthful about what you DO include. Here are 3 things to stop doing: 𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 "𝟮𝟱+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲" This puts the focus on your age instead of your value. Years of experience are not a unique differentiator. What can you do differently from another similarly qualified candidate? Instead: Lead with what you deliver. "Operations leader who reduces costs by 20%+ and builds teams that scale" says more than any number of years. 𝟮. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗱 Only include the last 10-15 years with dates. Anything older can go in an "Earlier Career" or "Prior Career Trajectory" section. No dates, no months, just company and title. Or a year range like 5+ years or 8 years in X industry. This is not deceptive. It's strategic. You're showing relevant experience without handing them a calculator. 𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 Remove graduation dates from your education section. A degree is a degree. The year you earned it is irrelevant to whether you're qualified. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁? Create an undated "Career Highlights" or "Selected Achievements" section near the top of your resume. Include the accomplishment and the context, but not the year. You could also include these in the "Early Career Trajectory" section at the bottom of your resume. It depends on how critical it is to your target role. Example: "Led post-merger integration of 3 business units, retaining 94% of key talent." No date needed. The result speaks for itself. Your resume should answer one question: Can this person do the job better than another candidate? Everything else is noise. Save this if you're updating your resume. What's one thing on your resume you've been afraid to remove? #Careers #JobSearch #Ageism

Hiring managers: you’re not filtering for the “best.” You’re filtering for what makes you comfortable. We took “30 years of experience” off someone’s resume. Replaced it with “15+ years of experience.” Suddenly? Interviews started coming in. That’s not strategy. That’s survival in a biased system. 📌 Ageism is real. 📌 Recency bias is real. 📌 Qualified candidates are getting cut, and left questioning their worth, before they even get the chance to speak If you’re over 40 and wondering why no one’s calling you back, it’s not because you’re irrelevant. It’s because the system is broken and obsessed with what looks shiny and “new.” This is exactly why I built SSIP™. Not to play the game. But to outsmart it. ✅ STORY – You don’t need 30 years of bullets. You need the right narrative. ✅ SKILLS – Not a list. Evidence. Transferability. What works now. ✅ IMPACT – Metrics. Outcomes. Business results. ✅ POSITIONING – Align with where you’re going, not just where you’ve been. If you’re not getting callbacks, it’s not about your value. It’s about how you’ve been taught to show your value. And to the recruiters and hiring managers reading this? 👋 Check your damn bias. 📌 Stop confusing tenure with irrelevance. 📌 Stop acting like someone’s last 3 years define their next 10. 📌 Start hiring for what actually matters: skills, insight, impact, and growth. You don’t need to “dumb down” your experience. You just need to stop telling the story that keeps you boxed out. And I’ll help you do it. ___________________ And for those of you who don’t know me — Hi, I’m Erica Rivera, CPCC, CPRW. I’m the person people go to when they feel boxed out for being a “generalist.” And the same person they call when they feel boxed in for being a “specialist.” Because I help people unlock their SSIP: Story, Skills, Impact, and Positioning in a way that actually lands. So they stop getting mislabeled. And start getting seen

This is the Q&A from a panel I was just on about resumes for entry-level folks or folks with nontraditional paths. ❓: What is something you see a lot on resumes that you would tell people to change? A: Ditch home addresses (bias around commutes and neighborhoods is real), references (so no one can call your boss before talking to you and so the ATS doesn't accidentally mix your phone number for theirs), photos (bias!), and objectives (replace with a profile if you must). Also, resume templates are the worst. And always save as a PDF (with your First Name Last Name Resume vs. Resume v. 22) so the formatting doesn't break between platforms and devices. ❓: What if I have a long gap? Do I address it? A: Yes - even including a line in your profile section or experience section (e.g. Caregiver - date - date) is enough. And if it's something like a medical condition you don't want to get into, you can always say something like Medical Sabbatical and leave it at that. Life happens! But if you don't address it, businesses, which are inherently risk-averse, assume the worst. ❓: What if my experience goes onto two pages? A: No problem! Just make sure you're using the second page effectively - it should go to at least the halfway point on the page and have relevant information vs. something like hobbies. Actually, try not to include hobbies on your resume (more bias!). ❓: Why do entry-level roles require 2-5 years? A: Yeah, this is an unfortunate holdover from the Great Recession, when there were 8 (over)qualified candidates for every role. However, even if you are an entry-level candidate without much work experience, you can count your significant volunteering experience, internships, customer-facing work, hobbies (if you organized or led in a significant way), etc. And it's all kind of relative - as a recruiter, I'd take a 3-month internship, a year of part-time relevant volunteering, and two summers of scooping ice cream as 2+ years of experience. ❓: How is AI affecting the job search? A: As of right now...it's making all the applications and resumes read exactly the same and a lot of the outreach to have those funny little boxes around them. From an ATS perspective, it's not screening out folks in a very sophisticated or reliable way - the human touch is still very much a factor. And I hate pre-recorded video interviews. When you can show me you aren't going to get a different rating if you wear glasses and have a bookshelf in your Zoom background (a real finding!!), then I might trust it. Happy to answer any other questions! Good luck out there!

Be honest, is there a headshot currently sitting proudly at the top of your CV? If the answer is yes, take a deep breath… and delete it. Yes, I mean it. Remove it right now.🙅♀️ I don’t know who started this “picture on CV” trend, but if you find them, please send them my way because we need to talk. Somewhere along the line, job seekers were made to believe that adding a picture to their CV would make them more memorable, more appealing, or more “professional.” But in reality? It’s doing you more harm than good. 👉 Here’s why: 📌 Your CV is a Job Application, Not a Picture Contest A recruiter isn’t flipping through CVs thinking, “Hmm, nice smile, let’s hire them.” What they really care about is your skills, your experience, and what you bring to the table. Your picture does nothing to prove that. 📌 ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) Can’t Read Faces Most companies use ATS software to screen CVs before a human even sees them. These systems scan for text, not images. Adding a picture could mess up the formatting and cause your CV to be automatically rejected without you even knowing why. 📌 You’re Opening the Door to Unconscious Bias Whether we like it or not, humans have biases. A recruiter might form subconscious opinions about age, gender, ethnicity, or even perceived personality just from a picture. Why give them that opportunity? Let them judge you on your qualifications, not your appearance. 📌 It’s Not a Requirement, So Why Take the Risk? Unless you’re applying for a role where your appearance is actually relevant (like acting, modeling, or broadcasting), or in a region where it is accepted as standard practice, a picture is completely unnecessary. Many companies now discourage CV photos to promote fair and merit-based hiring. 👉 This is what you should do instead: 📌 Let LinkedIn Be Your “Face” If an employer wants to see what you look like, they’ll check your profile. Ensure to include link in the personal data section. 📌 Focus on an ATS-Friendly CV Use clear formatting and job-relevant keywords to make sure your CV actually gets read. 📌 Sell Your Expertise, Not Your Looks Your achievements, problem-solving skills, and experience should be the highlight not a headshot. Your CV should open doors based on your skills and experience not your appearance. The right employer will be drawn to what you bring to the table, not how you look. ~JK🫶 #JobSearch #JobSeekers #HumanResources #Recruiter #CVTips #CareerGrowth #Recruitment

In this market, I know that getting your resume noticed feels really important... (even though, honestly, I hate that so much focus is still put on a single piece of paper.) But since resumes are still part of the process, here’s my best advice: Here are 5 things I’d leave OFF your resume and why: 1. A Photo (yes. I see them too often) → Unless you’re an actor or model...leave it off. It creates unnecessary bias and adds no real value. Let your experience speak for itself. 2. Graduation Year (If You’re 2+ Years Post-Grad) →Ageism is real. Your degree doesn’t expire, but the bias around dates can cost you interviews. Move education to the end and focus on what you bring today. 3. Artsy or “Creative” Fonts → Unless you’re in design, keep it simple. ATS systems can’t always read fancy formatting, and recruiters want clarity over creativity. 4. Your Full Home Address → No one needs your street address. City and state are enough and protect your privacy! 5. Objective Statements → “Seeking a challenging role at a dynamic company…” doesn’t help. Use a tailored summary only if it adds value and highlights what makes you different. Bonus: 6. Canva Templates → I love Canva for a lot of things, but those trendy resume templates? They often cause formatting nightmares. When your recruiter (with your permission) tries to adjust your resume, the sections can break or shift unpredictably. Keep it easy to convert from PDF and editable in Word or Google Docs. Remember: Your resume isn’t your life story. It’s your ticket to a conversation.