lifehacker.com: Most every resume template includes a spot for your home address, but do you really need to include it? If you’re a privacy hawk, you might chafe at doing so, and not only because prospective employers are highly unlikely to choose to contact you via snail mail: Including your address on something as public as a CV might introduce a degree of socioeconomic bias into the recruiting/hiring process, potentially harming your chances at landing a new gig.
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Previously I have also been told that when in doubt don't include your address on a resume. Although, I wasn't aware that there are programs that weed out applicants based on factors like the socioeconomic expectations for those regions, commuter times, and taxes. Generally, I don't like including my address for privacy reasons. It feels invasive to include something so personal when you're applying to so many places and you have no idea whose specific hands it will go through. Depending on that company/organization to have sufficient security measures to protect their applicants isn't something I find easy. The few times I've been told to include an address were in you live within close proximity to the opportunity. I disagree with the article's idea that you may as well give your address as if hired, they will need it eventually. People tend to apply for so many jobs sometimes before even getting just 1 response so I would still wait it out.
Like Magnolia, I have been told several times that, unless otherwise requested, you should not include your mailing address on your resume. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about the way that giving your mailing address could subject you to discrimination based on socioeconomic status. That’s kind of crazy when you think about it. Why should where I live determine my intelligence, talent, or work ethic? On the other hand, it’s actually quite helpful to know about the ways not including your mailing address could jeopardize your chances of being hired. It makes perfects sense that the company you applied to would eventually need your address and that not including it in your resume could take you off the list of consideration entirely. In all honesty, it’s all a little confusing. It seems like it could be difficult deciding whether or not you should include your mailing address on your resume. The reasons why as well as reasons why not both seem pretty valid to me.
Like the Magnolia and Vanessa have expressed, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that employers are allowed to discriminate based on neighborhood. I feel like that should almost be illegal. They are going to need your address on file anyway after you get the job so that they can send you tax documents, but I would not give it to them until after I get the job. Even if they do try to weed people out based on their address, I would not want to work for someone who did that so I would refuse to give it. It is a good idea if they ask for an address on an online application to just include the zip code and city but not your full address. The practice of including your address on your resume is pretty outdated anyway. I think the practice should just die entirely.
This was an interesting article; it reminds me of many conversations about privacy and safety with personal information I’ve had with my mother many times in my life. Her motto has always been “if they do not absolutely need it, do not give it”– which I tend to use as a guideline as well in anything that needs my personal information. I don’t give out my mailing address on a resume, and really would only give it unless specifically required to. The part employers’ socioeconomic bias based on address does not surprise me, but it does make my skin crawl. Especially with things being remote or hybrid, I think the option to emit a mailing address until given the job makes the most sense to me. It is the option that protects some of your personal information that you could be sending to multiple people or companies at the same time, and it's better to be cautious about that then not in my opinion.
I agree with all those above that I had always been advised to leave as much of that information off my resume as possible, but I didn't realize how much deeper that statement went. It is ludicrous that these companies can discriminate based on socio-economic status found from addresses, and just goes to show the unequitable culture that surrounds hiring practices. Even the points that are made in favor of putting it on your resume are irrelevant when it comes to the first-pass process of resume reviews. The point of "well you have to give it to us eventually if you're hired" is obnoxious and in my mind is almost a bit of a smokescreen. If I'm hired I have to fill out that paperwork regardless, they don't need my address until then (its not like you're filling out my W2 for me). The point about timezones and tax laws is valid with the future of remote work, but you don't need my address to know all that information. I think it can be useful to put a city (a large one near your home) and state. This gives them plenty of info about timezones and tax laws, without them needing to know my neighborhood or address. Again, in many ways it seems like some companies use these excuses to get more information, and if they use it to discriminate that needs to be fixed.
I know the article doesn’t talk about this but if I put my mailing address on something as public as a CV, I would worry that people would sing me up for mailing lists I don’t want to be on and attempt to show up at my house. Although it may sound silly, that’s a very legitimate concern when you send your cover letter to hundreds of companies. Perhaps thousands of people might see this. What if it gets into the wrong hands? It would be mildly irritating for me to have to deal with any of that fallout. Plus, who writes letters now anyway? Only crazy people! Well… maybe old people too. On a more serious note, I think information that is nessasary to contact you efficiently should be included on a CV and a address is not that efficient. I only include my email address and phone number as those are both the best ways and most effienct ways to contact me.
I have also been told not to put my mailing address on my resume. I was told not to do it because most companies now don't use snail mail because it takes longer, however I also choose not to put my address on resumes for privacy reasons. As the article points out submitting a resume with your address online is risky because of programs that are trained to sort out addresses and keep them in any number of systems. While nothing malicious may ever come of this, the violation of privacy is still a concern. If a company I am applying to requests my address on my resume I will try to submit it in person or only include my state city and zip as the article suggests. When it comes to the issues of payroll or record keeping within the company I assume that they will only really need my address if they hire me and then I can give it to them directly without the same risk.
I haven't had extensive experience in being told to put or not to put my mailing address on resumes, but I would generally never consider it for privacy reasons, as has been expressed. I also had a faint idea of the deeper connotations of a mailing address just from reading older articles and hanging around online. It is often, if not always, in the interest of companies to needle out as much personal information as possible in a legal manner to use as judgement because a lot of the criteria they use to weed out applicants they're not technically allowed to ask. The socioeconomic factor also applies to questions like "Do you have reliable transportation?" Where they often expect you to specify the mode of transport to prove you do, which may get you disqualified if your answer is "unsatisfactory," and in reality you can just say "Yes" and leave it at that. Much to watch out for.
I have only really considered the privacy aspect of this before reading the article. Unless I have the job and they need that information for taxes or sending documents, why would my address be necessary? Additionally, this isn’t an issue of communication either because in this day and age people can be reached by call, text, phone, email, and so many other apps. I also immediately struggled to figure out which address I would even put now that I’m in this weird transition phase of my life. While I have my own apartment, I’m still staying with my parents for a good part of the year. Would I change it based on what job I’m applying to? They brought up making sure they were in the same time zone but I feel like that could be answered without giving that much personal information away. It’s scary how providing it does open people up to socioeconomic discrimination that can take you out of the running for a job.
Personally, I have my address included in my resume that I would hand out personally to employers, but I do not include it if I am publishing my resume online on either a website or application. The article brought up some interesting points about how you could not make it through a pre-screening without the address, in which case I think that I am making a good decision by having my address on my physical paper resume. However, I also found it interesting that some companies filter out the address anyways, in which case no harm no foul. I really don't think it is that dangerous to have your address on your resume unless you are publishing it online with public access. My roommate works for his mother's real estate company, and when he started working for her a lot he ended up getting an office space downtown where he could use the office address instead of his home when dealing with clients and work-related things because there would be public access to his information, which I found quite interesting.
I thought this article was fairly interesting. I had put my address on all of my college resumes because colleges often send students things in the mail. But now that I have worked on a post high school resume I didn't really know whether to put it or not. I thought a little bit about the privacy factor but I thought more of the fact that my address in pittsburgh is different from my address from home. I would always be able tog et mail when it was delivered home, but I am not always here in pittsburgh and I may not have anyone be able to send me what was sent here. This article has solidified that I will not be putting my address on any more resumes. I think the article makes many good claims and i would really argue that employers would need to see an address.
I’ve always gotten help from my resume in weird avenues. And somehow, I think it ended up alright. However, I think it is a little weird to want people to have their address on their resume. Honestly, like this article says, I’m probably a bit of a “privacy hawk.” I have, however, put my city and state in my resume and CV just because I have moved around a lot and a lot of my experience is from different places. But as far as a specific address… feels a bit extraneous.
It is interesting to know that there are reasons you might want to have your address on your resume, but they honestly feel pretty half-assed as far as reasons go because they aren’t nearly enough to convince me to do so.
As always with resumes “it depends” is the ultimate answer to questions like this, right. I think it really does depend especially in a post covid work environment. I am person that has always had however at least me location known on my resume. I always list what city or location I call home at the certain moment for a variety of reasons. Primarily to arrange travel if need be I want it to be clear to someone that may be employing me that the I will need to travel for work or I am local and it will be easy. As well in a Covid world I want to make sure Time zones are clear sharing my location has been important with interview processes on more than one occasion trying to schedule zooms is a big part of the process and some people may be working in different parts of the country.
I also don’t provide my address on my resume. I think it’s completely inappropriate to ask or require that information while still in the application stages. I think the only realistic reason they’d need to know your address would be to know if they need to help with relocation or commuting, but the odds of a theatre job doing that for you are slim anyways. I agree with what others have said about it being ridiculous that employers discriminate against applicants based on their zip code, as if that’s in any way reflective of that applicant as a person. Needing your address changes a little bit now that remote work is more common, but a zip code should be able to provide your employer with everything they need. No one should be asking you for your address before they hire you. In my opinion, it’s very unprofessional and a complete breach of privacy.
It seems like the obvious happy medium would be to include your city and state, but not your actual street address. There’s definitely something to be said for either including it or not on a job to job basis because if it’s something you're applying for in another state, maybe you don’t want to admit that you’re from out of town, but if it is an adjacent town, it makes sense to. It was interesting to learn that resume database systems sometimes purposely omit the address so that it doesn’t look like there’s bias based on neighborhoods. Of course the issue of neighborhood to neighborhood bias is a huge issue. Prime example that CMU had an officially published map of the city that just didn’t have neighborhoods of color in it. Most employers don’t actually send you physical mail anymore or a physical job offer. I’d hope that companies wouldn’t make judgement calls based on city or town, but maybe it really is a call on a case by case basis.
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