Six seconds. That's all you get.
Your resume has six seconds to grab attention before someone moves on to the next candidate.
It needs to slip past the ATS bots (that filter out resumes before a human ever sees them) and make a hiring manager think, "I need to talk to this person."
For every dev job you apply to, 249 other developers are making the same resume mistakes that kill their chances of getting them an interview.
I've been talking to talent experts at Index.dev who've screened over 10,000 tech professionals in just the first half of 2025. They see the same resume disasters every single day and can instantly spot what works and what gets skipped.
In this blog, I’ll break down 20 things you need to cut out of your tech resume. Things that slow you down, confuse recruiters, or just don’t matter anymore.
Let’s dive in.
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1. That Random Job from Your Past Life
Look, we get it. You were employee of the month at that pizza place during college. You crushed it as a camp counselor. Maybe you even had a brief stint selling insurance door-to-door.
But here's the thing. If it doesn't connect to code, don't include it.
Recruiters scanning for a backend engineer don’t need to know you were the “Shift Lead at Joe’s Burgers” five years ago. It’s just noise.
Our talent experts at Index.dev see this all the time. One senior full-stack dev we reviewed recently had two solid years of React and Node work, but you had to scroll past three unrelated jobs to even see it. Don't make a recruiter dig.
The exception? If that random job taught you something that actually matters for tech work. Like managing teams, problem-solving under pressure, or dealing with tech in a real-world setting.
2. That Cringe Email Address
If your email still looks like [email protected] or [email protected], stop everything and fix it. You’re applying for a serious tech job, not logging into your old RuneScape account.
Recruiters notice this stuff. A weird or outdated email address makes you look careless or just… stuck in 2003.
Before anyone reads a single line about your React expertise, they're already questioning your judgment. And in tech, judgment matters.
The fix is simple:
Make a clean Gmail or Outlook address that matches your real name. Something like [email protected] or [email protected] works great. It takes two minutes, it’s free, and it can seriously boost your chances of getting noticed.
3. Personal Details That Don’t Belong
Your resume isn't a dating profile or a confession booth.
No one hiring a backend engineer needs to know if you’re married, what religion you follow, or your birthday. In fact, it's working against you.
When you put personal details on your resume, you're basically handing hiring managers reasons to unconsciously bias against you. They might not even realize they're doing it, but suddenly your Python skills matter less than whether they approve of your lifestyle choices.
What to axe immediately:
- Marital status (nobody cares if you're married to your code or an actual human)
- Religious beliefs (unless you're applying to a religious organization)
- Social Security number (seriously, why would you do this?)
- Age, birthday, or graduation years that give away your age
- Photo (this isn't LinkedIn, and it's not helping)
- Political affiliations (save it for Twitter)
The only personal info that matters:
- Your name
- Your phone number
- Your professional email
- Your city (just the city, not your full address)
- Your GitHub, portfolio, or LinkedIn
Everything else is just giving people reasons to say NO before they even see your technical skills.
4. Your Full Home Address
No one’s mailing you a job offer.
Your full street address has no place on your tech resume anymore. Seriously, it’s one of the first things we recommend cutting. Why?
- First, it’s just not needed at this stage. Most communication happens via email, phone, or LinkedIn. Recruiters don’t need your exact home address to decide if you’re a fit.
- Second, including it wastes precious space—space you could use to showcase your skills or projects.
- Third, sharing your full address can be a security risk. Your resume gets uploaded to job boards, emailed around, and sometimes even posted publicly. One of our talent experts at Index.dev puts it bluntly: "The first thing I tell developers is to remove their full address. It's a security nightmare waiting to happen."
All you need is your city and time zone, especially for remote roles. That’s it. Recruiters just want to know where you’re based or if you align with the team’s work hours.
5. One Phone Number Is Enough
You only need one number on your resume. Not two. Not your work landline. Not your old home phone.
I've watched Index.dev talent experts get frustrated trying to reach developers who list three different phone numbers. They're not going to play detective to figure out which one actually works. They'll just move on to the next candidate who made their life easier.
Just give recruiters your mobile number. Why? Because you control:
- Who answers it
- When you answer it
- What the voicemail sounds like
So, make it stupidly easy for someone to reach you. One number. One professional voicemail. One less reason for them to call someone else instead.
6. That “Objective” Section
If your resume still starts with “Looking for a challenging opportunity to grow and utilize my skills…, ”we need to talk.
Of course you're looking for a job. That’s why you applied. Writing that in your resume is just stating the obvious and wasting space.
Recruiters are hunting for your skills, your GitHub repos, your project wins. They don’t care about your desire to "utilize synergistic approaches" or "maximize stakeholder value." Unless you're doing a major pivot (like moving from QA to ML engineering), skip the old-school “objective” and go for a career summary instead.
In 2-4 lines, tell:
- What kind of roles you're great at
- Your core strengths (tech stack, industries, wins)
- Why you’d be a strong hire
You could also say:
“Full-stack developer with 5+ years building scalable web apps for fintech startups. Led 3 product launches that increased user engagement by 40%. Passionate about clean code, automation, and leading agile teams to deliver products users love.”
At Index.dev, our talent experts say a strong summary gives them a quick snapshot of your value. It’s your chance to stand out. Make every word count.
7. The Headshot (You’re Not Auditioning for a Movie)
Let’s get straight to it: don’t put your photo on your resume.
You’re applying for a job in tech, not starring in a Netflix series. Including a headshot doesn’t make you look more “professional.” It just raises eyebrows and creates problems you don’t need.
A brilliant DevOps engineer with killer Kubernetes skills may get passed over because their photo triggered some unconscious bias. Maybe they looked too young. Too old. Wrong gender for the "culture fit" someone had in mind.
Some recruiters will literally toss your resume to avoid any appearance of discrimination. They don't want to deal with the legal headache of someone claiming they were rejected based on their appearance.
Also, photos can mess with ATS formatting. Your resume might never even get read because the system can’t parse it correctly.
Your code speaks louder than your cheekbones. Let your GitHub portfolio do the talking, not your professional headshots.
8. Your Hobbies
No one’s hiring you because you love camping or collect rare Pokémon cards.
You think listing "competitive chess" and "artisanal bread making" makes you look well-rounded and interesting. But here's the thing, hiring managers aren't building a friend group. They're solving a business problem.
Sure, hobbies are cool. They make you human. But unless they connect to the job you’re applying for, they just take up space on your resume.
At Index.dev, we’ve seen resumes where “playing League of Legends” or “watching Netflix documentaries” were proudly listed under hobbies. Fun? Maybe. Relevant to a cloud engineering role? Not even close.
When hobbies help:
- Open source contributions (shows you code for fun)
- Tech meetup organizing (leadership + community involvement)
- Hackathon participation (problem-solving under pressure)
- Tech blogging or YouTube channel (communication skills)
When they hurt:
- Basically everything else that doesn't connect to your job
Your resume has one job: prove you can do the work. Everything else is noise.
“Unless your hobby helps you code better, collaborate better, or solve real problems, leave it off. We’re hiring for skill, not personality quizzes.” – Kate Poleakovski, Tech Recruiter at Index.dev
9. Buzzwords – “Innovative Rockstar Ninja”
Time for some tough love about buzzwords.
If your resume sounds like a startup pitch deck, you’re doing it wrong.
Words like “go-getter,” “results-oriented,” “team player,” “ninja,” “rockstar,” or “synergy expert” don’t tell anyone what you’ve done. They just make your resume sound like it’s trying too hard.
At Index.dev, our recruiters see this all the time: developers trying to impress by saying they “think outside the box” or are “dynamic thought leaders.” Cool... but what did you build? What impact did you have?
Instead of buzzwords, use real, strong verbs:
- Built a CI/CD pipeline that cut deploy time by 40%
- Led a team of 4 devs through a React to Next.js migration
- Launched a payment system that scaled to 1M users
Here’s the trick: read your resume out loud. If it sounds like something you'd never say in real life, change it.
10. Personal Pronouns
Your resume isn't your diary.
Yet somehow, developers keep writing things like:
"I developed applications using React. I worked with APIs. I collaborated with my team. I improved my skills in JavaScript."
It’s obvious you’re talking about yourself. You don't need to remind them every sentence.
Using “I”, “My,” and “Me” over and over sounds awkward and, honestly, a bit amateurish.
The fix is simple:
- "I developed React applications" → "Developed React applications"
- "I collaborated with my team" → "Collaborated with cross-functional teams"
- "I improved performance by 30%" → "Improved performance by 30%"
Why this matters:
- Saves space for accomplishments
- Sounds more professional and confident
- Lets your achievements speak louder
Keep the personal pronouns for your LinkedIn profile, where a more casual, first-person tone works great.
Learn essential tips to write an impressive resume.
11. Tiny Fonts, Narrow Margins, or Fancy Designs
Tiny fonts, crazy margins, and fancy layouts might make your resume look “cool”, but they often do more harm than good.
You’re basically sabotaging yourself.
Here’s what really happens: those fancy designs, like multi-column layouts, text boxes, or embedded charts, can totally confuse the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that most companies use to filter resumes.
The ATS might think your file is broken and just toss it out. Yep, that means your resume could get ghosted before a human even sees it.
Here’s what you can do:
- Use fonts no smaller than 10pt. Anything tinier makes your resume hard to read, especially on screens. Stick to standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman).
- Keep margins at least 0.5 inches all around so your text doesn’t feel cramped.
- Stick to a simple, clean, reverse-chronological format. No tables, no footers, no embedded images. Just clear sections and bullet points.
Your goal is to make it dead-easy for both the ATS and the hiring manager to find your skills and experience. Don’t hide your best work behind fancy formatting.
“Some resumes look like a designer’s playground, but if the ATS can’t read it, you’re invisible.” – Mihai Golovatenco, Talent Director at Index.dev
12. Wall of Text
Our talent experts at Index.dev say that dense paragraphs are a guaranteed way to get your resume ignored.
Trying to cram your entire life story onto one page with tiny fonts and tight margins? Big mistake. Hiring managers and recruiters skim resumes fast.
What actually happens:
- Hiring managers' eyes glaze over
- Your best accomplishments get buried in the wall of text
- You look desperate instead of selective
- ATS systems struggle to parse the information
You want to make it easy to scan, not exhaust someone.
The fix:
- Use plenty of white space.
- Break info into short bullet points.
- Pick your top 3-4 achievements per role.
Highlight your best work. You can always talk about the rest in the interview.
13. Too Many Soft Skills Without Any Proof
Sure, soft skills like teamwork, communication, and leadership sound great. But just writing them down? It's an empty noise.
Here's what hiring managers actually think:
- "Team player" = Can't work independently
- "Detail-oriented" = I mess up a lot but I'm trying
- "Self-motivated" = Needs constant supervision
- "Excellent communicator" = Talks too much in meetings
The fix: Show, don't tell. Back it up with a quick example:
- Instead of “Good multitasker,” say “Organized a virtual hackathon with 50+ participants, praised by faculty for smooth execution.”
- Instead of “Team player,” say “Collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver a SaaS product ahead of schedule.”
- Instead of "Strong leadership skills," try "Led 5-person dev team through 3 major product launches, reducing deployment time by 40%."
For every soft skill you mention, include 3 hard skills. Keep your hard skills front and center, because that’s what tech roles live and die by.
14. Too Much of the Past
You’ve got about 6 seconds to grab attention. Don’t waste it on stuff from a decade ago.
Here’s the simple rule:
Focus on your last 5-10 years of work. That’s where your latest skills and wins live.
Keep your resume to two pages max. Anything longer is just more stuff to skim through.
Forget about high school unless you’re fresh out of it. And if you want to mention early jobs from way back, put them in a quick “Early Career” list at the bottom. No need to explain every single detail.
Why this matters:
Technology moves fast. Your expertise in Flash animation from 2008 isn't exactly relevant to modern web development. Hiring managers want to see what you've done lately. If a technology or framework is completely dead, don't give it prime real estate on your resume. Your current TypeScript skills matter more than your legacy PHP projects from the stone age.
“We’re not hiring who you were 15 years ago. We’re hiring who you are now. Cut the legacy noise and highlight the skills that matter today.” — Pavel Melnicov., Tech Recruiter at Index.dev
15. Broadcasting Your Salary History
Developers who think listing their salary gives them negotiating power. It doesn't. It gives employers a ceiling.
Your paycheck is your business. Recruiters don't care if you made $200K at your last job. They don't care if you want to show off your Google compensation package. Keep those numbers to yourself.
Why? Because if you list your previous salary, you either get lowballed on the new offer or you get caught lying.
- Scenario 1: You list your real salary ($85K), but the new job pays $120K. Guess what? They'll offer you $90K because "it's still a raise."
- Scenario 2: You inflate your salary to $110K to get the job. That’s a quick way to lose trust, or worse, your job.
Plus, since 2018, some places in the U.S. have made it illegal for employers to ask about your salary history. This means you don’t have to share it, and you definitely don’t want it in writing on your resume.
So, keep your salary details for later, when you’re negotiating an offer, not in the first step of getting hired.
16. References Available Upon Request
Delete that line at the bottom of your resume. Right now.
Companies only check references after they're already interested, usually after 2-3 interviews. By then, they'll ask for them anyway.
Plus, it’s way better if you get to warn your references ahead of time before a call comes in.
That references line is dead space where you could showcase another project or skill instead.
Use that line for something that highlights your skills or projects instead:
- Another programming language
- A project metric ("Reduced load time by 40%")
- Your GitHub link
Your resume is a marketing tool. Every word should prove you can do the job. That references line doesn't.
17. The Passive Voice: Stop Writing Like a Robot
Your resume’s job is to show off what you’ve done, loud and clear.
Here’s a quick check:
- Passive (bad): "Testing was performed on the new feature." (Who performed it? Sounds vague.)
- Active (good): "I performed rigorous testing on the new feature." (Clear, confident!)
- Passive (also bad): "A new API was designed." (By whom? For what purpose?)
- Active (much better): "Designed and implemented a new RESTful API that improved data retrieval speed by 20%." (Impact!)
Spotted the difference? One shows ownership. The other sounds like you were just there when stuff got done.
The passive voice hides who did what. It makes your achievements sound like they just... happened. An active voice puts you in the driver's seat. Say “I built the API,” or “Led the migration to Kubernetes.” It’s stronger, clearer, and way more confident.
A quick fix:
- Start your bullet points with action words: Built, Created, Optimized, Led, Designed.
- If you're unsure, ask ChatGPT to convert your passive sentences to active voice.
“When developers use passive voice on a resume, it’s like hiding behind their work. Own what you did. Speak like someone who’s ready to lead.” — Anastasia Naval, Tech Recruiter at Index.dev
18. Irrelevant Social Media Links
Your Instagram vacation pics? Leave those off your resume.
Here's what hiring managers think when they see random social links:
- Your Instagram: "This person doesn't understand professional boundaries."
- Your TikTok: "Are they going to make videos instead of code?"
- Your Facebook: "Why would I need this?"
You're burning valuable resume space on stuff that doesn't show off your technical skills. Recruiters at Index.dev don’t need your personal socials unless they show professional value. Posting personal or unrelated content on your resume just raises questions and can hurt your chances.
Instead, share links that matter:
- Your LinkedIn profile with tech content
- Your GitHub repo (obviously)
- Dev.to or Medium if you write about code
- A personal portfolio site or tech blog
- Stack Overflow profile with good rep
19. Irrelevant Internships and Side Gigs
Your resume isn’t a scrapbook of every job you ever had.
Loading it up with internships or part-time roles that don’t relate to the tech job you want just wastes everyone’s time.
Unless those internships taught you skills that really matter for your new role. For example, if you did a writing internship but are applying for a DevOps role, only mention it if it helped you sharpen communication or documentation skills.
Only include jobs that build your tech story.
Ask yourself: "Does this experience make me a better developer?"
Keep if it shows:
- Technical problem-solving (even in non-tech roles)
- Leadership or project management
- Customer-facing skills (for client work)
- Relevant tools or processes
Skip if it's just:
- A paycheck with zero skill transfer
- Too far back (5+ years for entry-level roles)
- Completely unrelated industry experience
20. Opinions, not facts
Hiring managers want to see proof, not vague bragging.
Saying “I’m an excellent communicator” or “highly motivated” doesn’t convince anyone. Those are just opinions, your opinion. These words mean nothing:
- "Passionate" (who applies for jobs they hate?)
- "Detail-oriented" (says everyone)
- "Self-motivated" (that's expected)
- "Team player" (generic)
- "Results-driven" (what's the alternative?)
Recruiters at Index.dev see these exact phrases on 90% of resumes. You're blending in, not standing out.
Instead of claiming you're "detail-oriented," prove it:
- Fluff: "Detail-oriented developer with strong problem-solving skills" vs. Facts: "Reduced bug reports by 60% through comprehensive unit testing"
- Fluff: "Improved application performance" vs. Facts: "Optimized SQL queries, cutting page load time from 3.2s to 800ms"
Every achievement should have a number:
- Lines of code? Skip it.
- Users impacted? Include it.
- Performance gains? Perfect.
- Time saved? Gold.
Show your impact with facts and data. That’s what gets you noticed, and hired.
Learn more proven strategies to get hired in tech.
Final Thoughts
Tech recruiters don’t read every resume word-for-word. They scan fast.
Our tech recruiters at Index.dev have vetted thousands of developers for remote roles. They’ve seen brilliant candidates get overlooked simply because their resumes were packed with noise. Too many soft skills, random hobbies, weird formatting, jobs from 15 years ago, or just unclear wording.
And we’ve also seen average profiles land amazing jobs, just because their resume made it easy to see their real strengths.
So if you’re a software engineer, data scientist, DevOps professional, or any tech talent out there:
- Tell your tech story.
- Clean up these red flags.
- Highlight the good stuff.
- Keep it clean, honest, and focused.
- Use a resume review service to confirm that your CV checks all the boxes.
Because when your resume tells a clear story about what you can do right now, it opens doors fast.
And if you're ever in doubt? Keep this simple rule in mind:
If it doesn’t help you get hired, it doesn’t belong on the page.
For Developers:
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