Avoid Listing These 3 Outdated Skills On Your Resume

A resume is the most important tool during a job search, which means your resume should always reflect the most up-to-date skills needed in today’s workplace. Listing some skills can make you sound like you’re behind the times. Other outdated skills might actually mislead the hiring managers at the jobs where you’re applying. If you’re having a hard time deciding which skills to include on your resume, and which skills to leave off – we can help. Below are 3 outdated skills we think you should remove from your resume before you apply for the next job. 

Microsoft Suites (and their Google Counterparts)

Unless you’re specifically applying to a job that requires you to have these skills, don’t list out the Microsoft Suites. There’s no point in listing Word, Excel and Powerpoint proficiency on your resume. Why not? Because most hiring managers assume that you’re experienced with this software. Listing these programs in the skills on your resume takes up valuable space. It also makes it appear that you don’t quite understand how basic these skills really are. Don’t let these outdated skills distract from the more relevant skills you really want to highlight.

Typing Speed 

Like the Microsoft Suites, employers assume you can type. Most employers don’t care about your typing speed unless you’re applying for a job that involves a lot of accurate typing. Bragging about speed and accuracy is an outdated skill that doesn’t need to take up important real estate on your resume. Back in the day of typewriters, an accurate and fast typing speed was important, because errors could not be easily erased. Today, good typing requires a back button only. Spelling errors are easy to identify and correct due to spell check functions in documents. While typing speed can be convenient, listing your typing speed makes it sound like you’re applying for an office position in 1967 – which, you’re not. 

Social Media

Using social media for personal purposes is nothing like using social media in an office setting. Listing social media as a skill on your resume would imply that you’ve spent time crafting messages for a commercial social media account. Or that you’ve made decisions about content for social media for business purposes. If you haven’t done that, then listing social media as a skill on your resume is misleading. It could lead to some awkward (and embarrassing) discussions during your interview. Be upfront about your social media experience. 

About the Author: Kathryn Elwell grew up in the Midwest. She has experience in management and human resources, and has been writing on these topics and more for 12 years.