You put your resume in an expensive thick paper envelope. Then you put a wax seal with your family crest on it. Your feather neatly draws your initials on the envelope, and you write your full address. Finally, after 14 days since you send the letter, you receive a reply from your dream company:
“We are sorry to inform you, but it is 21 century! You could have just sent an email.”
Even though the described situation is nearly impossible, the habit of treating your job application documents the way we have no social networks or internet remains with many job seekers.
For some reason, there is still a thought that you should put your full address on your resume in case HR manager wants to contact you via mail. However, in a highly digitalized world, this scenario is highly unlikely to happen.
New modern resume doesn’t overwhelm their readers with the full home address which takes two lines of text.
Do you need your address on your resume? Yes, the location information is still important! Do you need to write your full home address on your resume? Absolutely not!
Should I Include My Full Address On a Resume
Following are The Top 3 Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Include Your Full Address In Your Job Application Supportive Document:
- No need
Your street address should not be included on your resume for the simple reason that it is unnecessary. Before email, mail was the main form of contact, hence an address was frequently needed. Listing your actual physical address is not important today because most communication takes place over the phone and over email.
Only when you accept a job offer will businesses need your complete street address. Alternatively, some positions, such as those with the federal government, will state that they require your home address. The vast majority of jobs, though, won’t ask for your precise location during the job application process.
- Privacy
To screen and filter resumes, many businesses use what’s known as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This software scans your resume for important keywords and details essential to the job. The ATS may move your resume to the next stage of the application process, suggest your resume as a potential fit, or reject your resume depending on the settings the employer has made.
Because your address includes personal identification information(PII), some employers screen out resumes with complete mailing addresses. The regulations governing PII are rather complicated, but the bottom line is that businesses don’t want to be in any circumstances where they compromise privacy or divulge sensitive personal data.
This is why, while submitting your resume online, you should just give your location, state, and zip code.
- Discrimination
Even though it is illegal, discrimination nonetheless happens throughout the entire hiring process. Your address may be used to make assumptions about you and your lifestyle, which is similar to why you shouldn’t put your photo on a resume. The use of just your city, state, and zip code will be just enough for the employer to understand your location and time zone availability.
Again, judging the professionals by the place where they live should not be a normal practice. Unfortunately, there are some areas where presumptions about the residents are present. By leaving out your particular street address, you can reduce the risk.
Can You Send the Resume Without the Address?
In some circumstances, leaving out the address entirely is the best course of action. There is frequently no need to provide your address because some remote employees won’t ask for it throughout the application process.
For details, such as preferred time zones or locations, read the job description. Include only the information that the application requires, for example:
- Eastern time zone.
- Based in New York,
- US-based
When you’re not sure who will be reading your resume, such as when you post it online, you should also exclude your address. You never know who might find your city and zip code online, and even those might be dangerous for your privacy. If you’re just seeking general feedback on some forums or resume critique services, take that information out of your contact area.
So What Is the Perfect Way to Put Your Address on a Resume?
A golden rule for resume writing is to put City, State, and Zip code data at the top of the document below your name. It depends on the resume design you have, but despite the template, the location info should be the Contact area.
Here is an example of address format on a resume:
And here is what a real resume address example will look like:
Let’s revise what contact info should be on a resume alongside with email:
- Professional work email.
Email address is an essential part of the contact area as this is the first point of connection any employer or hiring manager would use. It is recommended to create separate professional emails for work purposes and with a combination of your real name. You do not want to miss important emails in your personal letters and sales offers and also do not want to confuse HR manager with [email protected].
- Phone number
Nest after the email your relevant phone number is also crucial to include in the contact area. Do not add two or three phone numbers as it will only confuse the hiring manager. Choose the phone you will always answer and add it to the resume. Double check the number to ensure you receive the call and not someone else.
Make sure it is up to date and active. Adding a link to the dead page, which tell nothing to the hiring manager will bring only zero or negative effect. Also, check if the link you are adding is working and leads to the correct page. There is nothing more irritating for the hiring manager than following the wrong or not working link.
Tip: Do not include any emojis or icons to indicate your contacts (such as ✉️📱📪📍 ) as they will mess up your ATS score. Also, there is no need, to have “Phone”, “LinkedIn”, or “Email” names before the information. It is pretty obvious what numbers or links stand for.
In Conclusion
Modern technology allows us to connect with a person via the Internet or phone in seconds. Therefore there is no need to include the full home address on your resume or cover letter, or any other supportive document (at least if the employer strictly requires it in the job opening). By omitting the full home address you protect your privacy and also can reduce the risk of discrimination
The only things you should mention about your location are City, State, and Zip code.
