What should and shouldn't be on your resume? The complete checklist

Every resume is a collection of choices. Include a photo or not? Star ratings for your Excel skills? An intro paragraph at the top, or dive straight in? Most people just copy whatever they once saw somewhere, without asking themselves whether it still holds up. Time to set the record straight.

Photo: it depends, and that's not a cop-out answer

A photo isn't required in the US, and the law actually nudges you in the other direction — employers should be evaluating skills, not appearances. Still, a large share of applicants use one anyway. The reality is more nuanced than a simple "yes" or "no":

• Applying in the Netherlands, Germany, or many other European countries? A professional photo is allowed, but not required.
• Applying in the UK or US? Leave it out. There, a photo is actually discouraged because of anti-discrimination law.
• Not sure your photo looks representative? Then no photo is always better than a mediocre one. A vacation snapshot with sunglasses costs you more points than it earns.

If you do use a photo, make sure it matches your LinkedIn profile. Two different faces across two channels only raises questions.

Stars and bars for your skills: nice to look at, bad for the robot

This might be the most underrated resume mistake out there. Star ratings, progress bars, and percentages next to your skills look tidy — to a human. To an ATS system, which screens a large portion of resumes first, they mean absolutely nothing. The software reads text, not graphical elements. Four out of five stars next to "Excel" is simply ignored by the machine.

Worse still: even the humans who do read it wonder why someone rates themselves at 80% instead of 100%. Vague and subjective, in other words.

Do this instead: use words. "Basic," "advanced," or "expert" works for skills. For languages, use the European CEFR level (A2, B1, C1). Clear for the recruiter, readable for the machine.

Introduction at the top: short, or not at all

A short profile summary at the top of your resume — two to four sentences summarizing who you are and what you bring — works well, as long as you keep it brief. It's your sales pitch, not a recap of your entire career. "Driven professional with a passion for people" says nothing and just wastes a recruiter's time. A concrete sentence about your job title, years of experience, and key strength does more work in fewer words.

Don't have a good intro to write? Then it's better to leave it out entirely. A mediocre intro is worse than no intro.

Personal details: less is more

Date of birth, marital status, number of children — these no longer belong on a standard resume. Not because they're forbidden, but because they add nothing to the evaluation and can encourage unconscious bias. Name, city, phone number, email address, and optionally your LinkedIn profile are enough.

References: the line nobody needs to read

Adding "References available upon request" at the bottom of your resume is allowed, but in practice it's a non-starter: every recruiter already assumes you can provide them if asked. Only list references with names and contact details if the job posting explicitly asks for them — and even then, only at a later stage of the process, not as a standard resume item.

Hobbies: short, or relevant, not both in full detail

A list like "reading, traveling, sports" says little and mostly just fills space. If you have a hobby that genuinely says something relevant to the role — board member of a sports club, a side project connected to your field — feel free to include it briefly. The rest can safely be left out.

The quick checklist

Do	Don't (usually)
Short, concrete profile summary	Stars or bars for skills
Name, city, contact details	Date of birth, marital status
Text labels for level (basic/advanced/expert)	"References available upon request" without being asked
Photo — only if professional and relevant for the country	A long, generic hobby list

Wondering if your own resume passes this checklist?

Most applicants have no idea how many of these outdated points have secretly been on their resume for years — simply because no one ever checked. With CV Refresh, you upload your existing resume and the tool automatically strips out the outdated elements: stars become text labels, unnecessary personal details disappear, and the formatting is made ATS-friendly. Within a few minutes, you'll have a version that fits 2026, not 2015.

Check your resume with CV Refresh →

In short

• Photo: only professional, and skip it entirely in countries like the UK or US.
• Stars and bars for skills are unreadable to ATS systems — use text labels instead.
• A profile summary is fine, but keep it short and concrete — otherwise leave it out.
• Date of birth and marital status no longer belong on a standard resume.
• "References available upon request" is unnecessary unless specifically asked for.