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“Don’t Include This”: Résumé Writing Pro Goes Viral For Sharing Mistakes People Still Make In 2025
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“Don’t Include This”: Résumé Writing Pro Goes Viral For Sharing Mistakes People Still Make In 2025

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The 2020s have practically been notorious for just how brutal it’s become to simply land a role in any field — but luckily, there are people willing to help out a little in that department.

Dilara Casey, a career coach and résumé writer on TikTok, has shared a couple of tips on essential ‘dos and don’ts’ when writing a résumé — no doubt the most important document to focus on when searching for suitable positions.

Highlights
  • Dilara Casey gave a couple of tips and tricks to make sure your résumé is as effective as it can be.
  • Removing references, salary expectations, and more were included.
  • Comments, however, pointed out that there is no specific outline to follow.

“What you leave off is just as important as what you leave on,” she captioned her video, which has managed to gain nearly 3 million views and upwards of 150k likes since it went live last December. 

While every situation is different, Dilara — who has worked in both marketing and HR throughout her 20-year career — promises her hacks will more or less strengthen those looking for a standardized résumé.

RELATED:

    Dilara Casey shared 10 tips for making sure one’s résumé is as effective and concise as possible

    Image credits: totally_employable

    Her first tip was to remove any mentions of salary or salary requirements. These numbers will most likely be decided during the interview process, upon more of an in-depth discussion.

    In the same breath, it’s important not to include any “references available upon request” at the bottom of the page or list out those references at all. First, that’s “precious” space that should be used sparingly. Second, hiring managers will know that a candidate’s references are available upon request, as it’s “kinda standard.”

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    “I think it’s a bad practice because the people that are listed as a reference… they probably know you’re listed as a reference, but they could call them willy nilly and you wouldn’t even know. They wouldn’t have a heads up, and it’d be really weird and awkward,” Dilara explained.

    Image credits: totally_employable

    And though it may be a controversial take, the content creator shared that putting any color on a résumé is a no-go. 

    These documents should all be standardized, she claimed. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) may not recognize it, and most people will view résumés in black and white. 

    “If there’s something on your résumé you want to call attention to,” Dilara began, “use bold, use italic, use underline, get crazy and throw an arrow in there.”

    However, one comment called attention to this and speculated this may not apply to every job.

    The job market of these past couple of years has been notoriously difficult

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    Image credits: totally_employable

    Watch on TikTok

    “Totally disagree about color especially if you are going for a job that is even remotely creative,” they said. “Standing out is standing out. Use what you can to do that. And it won’t hurt.”

    Dilara also mentioned that while LinkedIn is a valuable resource, it’s essential not to put one’s entire profile link on the page. Instead, hyperlink! URLs can often appear to be messy with random and “jumbly” signs thrown in. 

    Additionally, there is a secret tool on LinkedIn that will help a candidate shorten their URL so it states nothing but their username.

    Another little piece of advice: it’s not required to list out one’s full home address. Besides the obvious space it’s going to take up, Dilara simply stated, “Nobody needs to know where you stay. This is not the Census Bureau you’re applying for a job for; you’re applying for a job at a company.”

    Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash

    Putting a general city, state, or region is all that’s necessary, especially since most in HR are only interested in seeing whether an employee is in town if the job is on-site.

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    And on the topic of taking up precious space, pie charts or any sort of graph that shows the experience a candidate has needs to go. 

    The ATS may “gunk up” these images as they’re graphic, not to mention they can be “super subjective.” If there’s a certain skill that stands out in a résumé, highlighting it or bolding it would be much more effective.

    To keep things interesting, redundant words should not be seen at all.

    A résumé shouldn’t be too long — meaning it’s important to save space for the essentials

    Image credits: totally_employable

    “If you get on the side of your résumé and every single bullet point starts with managed, managed, managed, managed… people’s eyes start to glaze over,” she shared. 

    “They’re going to stop reading what you’re writing and they’re just going to totally zone out.”

    Luckily, English is considered one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, so a simple search on Google can provide a plethora of other options and adjectives to use. In the case of ‘manage,’ perhaps using words such as ‘led,’ ‘organized,’ or ‘directed’ would be beneficial.

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    This next one’s “pretty painful,” but Dilara says those old, expired certificates on one’s résumé should not be in sight.

    For example, getting certified in CPR in 1996 is certainly an impressive feat — but when it comes to applying for a CFO job in 2025, it’s not really necessary.

    Image credits: totally_employable

    And one last tip: candidates should remove the third page on a résumé.

    “One page is fine,” she said. “Two pages is nice, but three gets a little excessive here. That might mean abbreviating your years of experience.”

    According to Dilara, hiring managers won’t be willing to read that many bullet points.

    But the comments underneath the video were a stark reminder that every candidate’s experience is different. Just because it works for the majority of people doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will enjoy that same success.

    “The way I went to a career counselor and they told me to do half of what you said not to do,” one person wrote. “This is why we hate it here. Everyone wants something different.”

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    Another chimed in, “Wouldn’t it be so helpful… and i’m just spitballing here… if hiring managers could just give us a mf form to fill out instead of requesting a resume? considering how many unspoken rules yall have.”

    Indeed, as Phoebe Chou — a student housing assistant in Cranbrook, BC — said to Bored Panda, “It’s been difficult for someone like me who has years of experience working in marketing and has worked as a manager in the past, but somehow, that’s not quite enough.”

    But people pointed out that every hiring manager is different, so these tips and tricks may not be beneficial for all

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    Ic_polls

    Poll Question

    What do you think about removing salary expectations from your résumé?

    It makes sense, discuss it at interviews

    I prefer to include it

    Depends on the job

    Never thought about it

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    Michelle Tian

    Michelle Tian

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

    Read less »
    Michelle Tian

    Michelle Tian

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

    Renan Duarte

    Renan Duarte

    Author, BoredPanda staff

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    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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    Renan Duarte

    Renan Duarte

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

    What do you think ?
    Add photo comments
    POST
    Lady Eowyn
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think we should stop with the Tik Tok stories, the visual presentation here is irritating.

    Petra Peitsch
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Are you really watching? My question is: WHY ON EARTH? These kinds of posts: I'm just scrolling through the written part in ,like 2 minutes. That, what they worth, at best. Although, this post is very USA, and very corporate. Apllied nowhere else in the world.

    Connor N
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Has somebody who lives in America and applied to over 500 jobs in the past 4 months I never had these issues before.... Sucks

    Robert T
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, but no. I work in IT. Our resumes are somewhat different to the norm. A friend of my gf was a retired English teacher and thought she could help me get my resume in order. My problem was trying to find contract work that didn't involve having to have a very specific set of current skills and exactly what they were working on at the moment.

    Hoi-Polloi
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Do you like to keep a "skills" or "technologies" section up top, or sprinkle it throughout?

    Big Chungus
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I disagree with the color on a resume. As a designer who looks at others resumes, I am completely fine and like a little bit of added color. A good designer is not going to randomly pop in the most absurd colors they can think of.

    Hoi-Polloi
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is why they don't let me work in design. I can only see the most garish of colors. After I made a website for my former manager, he told me he liked the data but I was banned for all time from picking my own colors.

    WindySwede
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This could have been a short list and not several videos 😅🥂

    Sergio Bicerra
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A friend of mine added 'Sly gliding' in Other Skills and was hired at an advertising agency cause, as told by a director, besides his good resumé they wanted him to teach them.

    Lady Eowyn
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think we should stop with the Tik Tok stories, the visual presentation here is irritating.

    Petra Peitsch
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Are you really watching? My question is: WHY ON EARTH? These kinds of posts: I'm just scrolling through the written part in ,like 2 minutes. That, what they worth, at best. Although, this post is very USA, and very corporate. Apllied nowhere else in the world.

    Connor N
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Has somebody who lives in America and applied to over 500 jobs in the past 4 months I never had these issues before.... Sucks

    Robert T
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, but no. I work in IT. Our resumes are somewhat different to the norm. A friend of my gf was a retired English teacher and thought she could help me get my resume in order. My problem was trying to find contract work that didn't involve having to have a very specific set of current skills and exactly what they were working on at the moment.

    Hoi-Polloi
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Do you like to keep a "skills" or "technologies" section up top, or sprinkle it throughout?

    Big Chungus
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I disagree with the color on a resume. As a designer who looks at others resumes, I am completely fine and like a little bit of added color. A good designer is not going to randomly pop in the most absurd colors they can think of.

    Hoi-Polloi
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is why they don't let me work in design. I can only see the most garish of colors. After I made a website for my former manager, he told me he liked the data but I was banned for all time from picking my own colors.

    WindySwede
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This could have been a short list and not several videos 😅🥂

    Sergio Bicerra
    Community Member
    1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A friend of mine added 'Sly gliding' in Other Skills and was hired at an advertising agency cause, as told by a director, besides his good resumé they wanted him to teach them.

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