In 2025, we have AI that can write Shakespeare-style emails, apps that apply to jobs with one tap, and hiring software that reads your résumé before any human does.
And yet… people are still putting their full home address, a glamorous headshot, and “references available upon request” on their résumés.

That’s why a résumé writing pro recently went viral after sharing a blunt message on TikTok:
“Don’t include this.” Her breakdown of what needs to disappear from modern résumés landed on Bored Panda and set off a storm of comments from recruiters, job seekers, and people realizing they’ve been doing it wrong for years.

In this guide, we’ll unpack the biggest mistakes people still make in 2025, why they matter in an age of applicant tracking systems (ATS) and AI screening, and what to include instead if you actually want an interview.
Think of this as your fun-but-tough-love, Bored-Panda-flavored crash course in résumé reality.

Meet the Résumé Pro Who Broke the Internet

The viral clip that sparked this conversation features a résumé coach casually scrolling through a document on TikTok and saying things like:
“Nope, don’t need that. Definitely don’t include this. Why is this still here in 2025?”

Bored Panda picked up the story and shared screenshots and commentary from the video, amplifying her message to millions more readers who suddenly realized their résumés might be fossilized in 2009.
The appeal is simple: she doesn’t shame people for not knowing; she just explains, in plain language, what today’s hiring managers and algorithms actually look for.

The reaction was instant:

• Recruiters chimed in to say, “Yes, I see this every single day.”
• Job seekers admitted they copy-pasted sections from old college templates.
• People in the comments ran to update their résumés before applying to one more job.

The takeaway: résumé culture has changed faster than most people’s documents. Let’s fix that.

Why 2025 Résumés Are Different (But the Mistakes Are the Same)

The résumé your parents usedprinted on thick ivory paper and handed over in personis a historical artifact now.
In 2025, your résumé usually faces three quick filters:

1. An online form that parses your text into fields.
2. An ATS that scans for keywords, formatting, and structure.
3. A recruiter or hiring manager who spends maybe 6–10 seconds deciding whether to keep reading.

You’d think this high-tech pipeline would eliminate old-school mistakes.
Instead, the same issues keep showing up, just with a modern twist:

• People still use vague, generic languageonly now AI can generate vague, generic language faster.
• People still overdesign their résumésonly now, ATS software chokes on tables, graphics, and fancy fonts.
• People still lie or “stretch” the truthonly now, background checks and online footprints make that easier to catch.

The viral résumé pro’s core message is basically:
“Stop adding things that don’t help you get the interview, and stop formatting your résumé in ways that robots can’t read.”

“Don’t Include This”: 10 Things Your 2025 Résumé Doesn’t Need

Let’s go through the worst offendersmany of which the viral creator called outand why they no longer belong on a modern résumé.

1. Your Full Street Address and Other Sensitive Personal Data

Once upon a time, people proudly wrote their full home address at the top of the page.
In 2025, that’s unnecessaryand risky. You don’t need:

• Full street address
• Age or date of birth
• Marital status
• Social Security number (please, no)

For U.S. jobs, city and state are usually enough, especially for remote roles.
Oversharing personal details clutters your header and raises privacy and bias concerns.
Plus, employers care more about whether you can do the job than whether you live on Oak Street or Maple Lane.

2. Headshots, Marital Status, and Other “Fun Lawsuit Bait”

In some countries, photos on résumés are normal. In the United States, they’re generally a bad idea unless you’re in a field like acting or modeling.

Here’s why:

• Photos invite unconscious bias around age, race, gender, and appearance.
• HR teams are trained to avoid information that could be seen as discriminatory.
• File sizes get bulky, and photos can confuse ATS parsing.

The same goes for marital status, number of children, religion, and other deeply personal information.
None of that helps a hiring manager decide if you can manage a project, debug code, or run a marketing campaign.

3. Objective Statements Stuck in 2003

The viral résumé expert called out one relic she still sees constantly: the old-school “objective” statement. It usually sounds like this:

“Objective: To obtain a challenging position where I can utilize my skills and grow with a company.”

The problem? It focuses on what you want, not what the company needs.
Modern career experts recommend a short, targeted summary insteadone that highlights your value proposition:

“Marketing specialist with 5+ years of experience driving double-digit growth across paid and organic channels; skilled in data storytelling, A/B testing, and cross-functional leadership.”

Same length, completely different energy. The second one answers the hiring manager’s question:
“Why should I care about this person?”

4. A Solid Wall of Text and Fluffy Buzzwords

Another classic “don’t include this” moment: that giant, unbroken paragraph of text under each job.

Recruiters skim. They’re not reading your résumé like a novel. If your document looks like a dense essay, it screams “too much work.”

Common offenders include:

• Huge paragraphs without bullet points.
• Repetitive phrases like “results-oriented team player” and “hard-working self-starter.”
• Filler verbs: “helped,” “assisted,” “involved in,” without clarity or impact.

Instead, use bullet points that start with strong action verbs and include numbers:

• Increased customer retention by 18% by implementing a new onboarding email sequence.
• Reduced ticket backlog by 40% through automated triage rules and team training.

5. “References Available Upon Request”

This one is a fan favorite on the viral TikTok, because so many people still use itand it’s completely unnecessary.

Employers already assume that if they want references, you’ll provide them.
Writing “references available upon request” wastes precious space that could be used for one more powerful bullet showcasing your skills.

6. Overdesigned Résumés That Break ATS Software

The résumé pro also called out the Canva-style documents that look gorgeous but never get processed correctly by ATS systems.

Here’s what often causes trouble:

• Complicated tables and multi-column layouts.
• Text inside shapes, icons, or graphics.
• Non-standard section titles like “My Journey” instead of “Experience.”
• Fonts that are decorative but hard to parse.

To a human, your résumé may look like a design portfolio.
To an ATS, it looks like gibberishor worse, blank space. That means your skills and experience never make it to the recruiter, no matter how impressive they are.

You don’t have to use a boring layout, but keep it simple:

• One or two clean fonts.
• Clear section headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills.
• Left-aligned text, minimal graphics, and no text boxes.

7. Endless Job Duties Without Results

A big theme across 2025 résumé advice: responsibilities are fine, but results get you hired.
Many hiring managers complain that résumés read like job descriptions pasted from the company website.

For example, compare:

“Responsible for managing social media accounts and posting daily content.”

versus:

“Grew TikTok account from 2,000 to 75,000 followers and increased average engagement rate from 3% to 11% in 10 months.”

The first tells us what you were supposed to do; the second shows what you actually achieved.
In 2025’s competitive job market, the second style wins every time.

8. One-Size-Fits-All Résumés Sent to Every Job

The viral creator also called out a modern problem: people sending the exact same résumé to 150 different jobs and wondering why no one replies.

With ATS software scanning for keywords from the job description, a generic résumé is easy to ignore.
You don’t have to rewrite your document from scratch for every application, but you should:

• Mirror relevant keywords from the posting (skills, tools, job title).
• Reorder your bullet points so the most relevant experience appears first.
• Adjust your summary to reflect the specific role or industry.

Think of your résumé as a template you customize, not a sacred document that can never be edited.

9. Typos, Lies, and “Almost-True” Claims

It sounds basic, but multiple surveys still show that spelling and grammar errors are among the top résumé dealbreakers for employers.
In a world where you can run your document through spellcheck, Grammarly, and even AI tools, a typo signals one of two things:
either you rushed, or you didn’t care enough to proofread. Neither is a great look.

Then there’s the lying problem. People still:

• Inflate job titles (“assistant” becomes “director”).
• Extend dates to cover gaps.
• List tools and languages they barely touched as “expert level.”

In 2025, many employers cross-check your résumé against LinkedIn, references, and sometimes even background-check tools.
If something doesn’t add up, your application may quietly disappear from consideration.

10. Over-Relying on AI to Write Your Résumé for You

Here’s a very 2025 problem: résumés that read like they were generated by the same botbecause they were.

Recruiters increasingly report seeing eerily similar phrasing across different applications.
They’re getting used to spotting AI-written content: perfectly polished, extremely generic, and totally devoid of personality or specifics.

Using AI as a tool is smart: it can help you brainstorm bullet points, fix grammar, or adjust tone.
But if you paste the output directly into your résumé without editing:

• You risk including skills you don’t actually have.
• You may end up with vague, cliché-filled content.
• You sound like everyone else using the same prompts.

The viral résumé pro’s advice here boils down to: let AI help, but don’t let it speak for you.

What to Include Instead: A 2025-Ready Résumé Checklist

So if you’re cutting all that clutter, what belongs on your résumé in 2025?
Here’s a quick checklist inspired by hiring pros, career coaches, and that viral TikTok star.

Essentials for Your Header

• Name in a slightly larger font.
• City, state, and country (or “Remote” if applicable).
• Phone number and a professional email address.
• LinkedIn profile and/or portfolio link.

A Sharp, Targeted Summary

In 3–5 lines, explain:

• Who you are professionally (your role or identity).
• How many years of relevant experience you have.
• Two or three standout strengths or achievements.
• The type of role or domain you’re targeting.

Experience That Highlights Impact

For each role, include:

• Job title, company, location, and dates.
• 2–6 bullet points focused on achievements, not just tasks.
• Specific metrics where possible (percentages, dollar amounts, time saved).
• Relevant tools and technologies mentioned naturally in the bullets.

Skills and Tools That Match the Job

Create a clean “Skills” section that groups abilities logically, such as:

• Technical: Python, SQL, Tableau, AWS.
• Marketing: SEO, email automation, Meta Ads.
• Soft skills: stakeholder communication, mentoring, conflict resolution.

Don’t list everything you’ve ever touched. Focus on what the job description emphasizes.

Optional but Helpful Sections

• Certifications & training (especially recent, job-relevant courses).
• Projects (great for students, career switchers, or tech roles).
• Volunteer work that shows leadership, initiative, or relevant skills.

Extra: Real-World Experiences with 2025 Résumé Mistakes

To bring all this advice down to earth, let’s look at some real-world style scenarios that mirror what recruiters and job seekers are seeing in 2025.
These aren’t one-to-one stories from the Bored Panda thread, but they capture the spirit of what people shared thereand what the viral résumé expert keeps warning about.

Story #1: The Beautiful, Unreadable Résumé

Mia is a graphic designer who poured her heart into a stunning résumé: pastel gradients, icons, a timeline running diagonally across the page,
and her skills arranged inside circles and shapes. When she posted it on social media, the likes rolled in.

When she applied for jobs, nothing happened.

A recruiter finally leveled with her: the company’s ATS couldn’t read half the text. Her job titles, dates, and skills simply didn’t parse correctly.
To the system, she looked like she had no experience at all.

Mia created a second version: clean, single-column, text-based, with a simple “Design Portfolio” link at the top.
Suddenly, interviews started showing up. The lesson? Use your portfolio to show your design magic; keep your résumé readable for both humans and machines.

Story #2: The “Perfect” but Generic AI Résumé

Javier, a project manager, discovered AI résumé tools and fell in love. He uploaded his work history, clicked a few buttons, and got a polished résumé back instantly.
It sounded fantastic: “dynamic leader,” “proven success,” “drives organizational excellence.”

The problem? It could have described any project manager on Earth.

Recruiters skimmed his résumé and saw nothing specific to healthcare, nothing about his experience with regulatory projects, and no metrics that showed scale or impact.
After 40 applications and one rejection email that gently mentioned “lack of evidence of industry experience,” he realized the AI had smoothed out all the interesting, concrete details.

Javier went back in and rewrote his bullets with his actual numbers:

• “Led 12-person cross-functional team delivering a $4.2M electronic health record migration six weeks ahead of deadline.”
• “Cut reporting errors by 37% by implementing a new QA process across three clinics.”

Same person, same jobsbut now his résumé sounded like a real human with real results, not a brochure.

Story #3: The Career Break That Looked Like a Black Hole

Dana took a three-year career break to care for a sick parent and then raise a newborn.
When she tried returning to work, she simply left those years blank on her résumé, hoping nobody would notice.

Employers noticed.

The gap made them wonder: Was she unemployed? Was there a performance issue? Did she leave the field entirely? Without context, they assumed the worst and moved on.

After reading modern advice on handling career breaks, Dana reframed her story. She added a brief entry:

“Family Care Career Break, 2021–2024 – Managed complex medical schedules, coordinated with healthcare providers, and completed online coursework in data analytics and Excel to prepare for re-entry into the workforce.”

Suddenly, the gap wasn’t a mystery; it was a human chapter, combined with evidence that she kept developing skills.
She started getting interviewsand several hiring managers explicitly told her they appreciated the honesty.

Story #4: The Underestimated “Soft” Achievements

Malik, a customer support lead, assumed his work wasn’t résumé-worthy because he didn’t “create strategy” or “own revenue.”
His first résumé draft listed duties like answering calls and supporting customers, with no metrics or accomplishments.

After talking to a career coach, he realized he’d:

• Trained eight new hires who still worked at the company three years later.
• Helped reduce average handle time by 20% by documenting and sharing best practices.
• Maintained a 4.8/5 average customer satisfaction rating across 2,000+ support tickets.

Once those numbers hit his résumé, he stopped underselling himselfand employers stopped overlooking him.
Within a month, he had an offer with a title and salary bump.

Each of these stories mirrors the patterns that keep showing up in viral threads and Bored Panda features:
people aren’t failing because they’re lazy or untalented; they’re failing because their résumés hide the very things that make them worth hiring.

Final Thoughts: Your Résumé Is a Living Document, Not a Tattoo

The viral résumé pro’s “Don’t include this” message isn’t about shaming outdated habitsit’s about freeing up space for the things that actually move the needle.

In 2025, a strong résumé is:

• Lean: no clutter, no filler phrases, no unnecessary personal details.
• Honest: no exaggerated titles or magical skills you don’t really have.
• Specific: full of numbers, outcomes, and evidence of impact.
• Searchable: aligned with the job description and friendly to ATS software.
• Human: clearly written by a real person who understands their own value.

So open your résumé, channel that Bored Panda energy, and ruthlessly delete anything that doesn’t help you tell a clear, compelling, 2025-ready story.
You’re not just editing a documentyou’re upgrading your chances of actually being seen.

And if you’re tempted to add “references available upon request” one more time?
Just hear that résumé pro’s voice in your head: “Don’t include this.”

The post “Don’t Include This”: Résumé Writing Pro Goes Viral For Sharing Mistakes People Still Make In 2025 appeared first on Blobhope Family.