Most resume advice is about what to add: stronger verbs, real numbers, tighter bullets. Just as much of what separates a polished resume from an amateur one is what's absent. None of the items below will single-handedly sink an application, but each one is a small, avoidable tell, and career-services guidance is consistent that all of them should go.
Drop the pronouns
A resume is written in implied first person — the "I" is understood, never stated. Starting a bullet with the pronoun instead of the action verb is also, not coincidentally, one of the most common weak-opener patterns.
Skip the photo, and skip age, gender, or marital status
Most US employers and applicant tracking systems expect a resume with no photo, and no age, gender, or marital-status information anywhere on it. A photo invites unconscious bias before a single qualification is read, and none of the rest is relevant to whether you can do the job. If you're applying somewhere a photo is genuinely customary, that's a deliberate regional exception, not the default.
"References available upon request"
This line is assumed by every reader already. A hiring manager who wants references will ask for them; stating the obvious just spends a line of space that could hold another accomplishment. Drop it, and don't list actual reference names and numbers on the resume either — that's a separate document, provided only when asked for.
Don't open a bullet with a date
Dates belong on the entry (role/company header), not leading a bullet — a reader skimming for what you did shouldn't have to scan past a date first.
Spell out the abbreviation the first time
An abbreviation obvious to you may not be obvious to whoever screens the resume first — recruiters and early-stage screeners aren't always subject-matter experts in your specific field. Spell out an uncommon acronym or abbreviation the first time it appears, then abbreviate freely after that.
Do not use personal pronouns such as "I" or "We." Do not include a picture, age, or gender. Do not list references.Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success, Guide to Creating a Strong Resume