When it comes to giving advice on compositing resumes, there’s plenty of information available on what you should do. But what about what you shouldn’t do?

The “do not’s” are as important as the “do’s,” according to Ryan Hoyle, director of global recruiting for GalaxE.Solutions, an IT Company with offices in Detroit, New Jersey, Canada and India. As someone who looks through hundreds of resumes a week, he sees plenty of things that draw his attention – for the wrong reasons.

Here are Hoyle’s top five don’ts:

• Don’t think outside the box. This is the one time you want to use standard fonts and templates. “Resume templates look the same for a reason: They work. Save the creative stuff for your portfolio,“ Hoyle says.
• Don’t write about your hobbies. Your hobbies are interesting – to you. “No one cares if you play tennis or like to ski,” he says. “What they do care about is involvement with organizations that might be valuable.” For example, enjoying skiing isn’t important, but being president of a ski club is because it shows leadership ability.
• Don’t include “cute” contact information. Your name should be bigger and bolder than the rest of your resume, and our contact information should make it easy for someone interested in hiring you to get in touch. “Make sure you use a professional e-mail, not hotbody@hotmail.com,” Hoyle says.
• Don’t forget to proofread. Read it, read it again, and, to be safe, have a second set of eyes proofread. “I can’t tell you how many resumes I get that have misspelled words or are grammatically incorrect,” Hoyle says.
• Don’t lie. This is the biggest one to remember. Employers now have the ability to run background, work history and credit checks – and many do. “There is a whole industry now doing background checks,“ Hoyle says.