It may well be that you have developed an engaging and powerful summary followed by the list of quantifiable achievements in the work experience section. Your resume might have a good structure which will help employers skim through your resume sections easily. However, the very first thing the employers’ eyes come across on your resume is your name and contact information. If you fail there, there are good chances that no one’s going to see how talented and qualified you are for the job. Most job seekers understand that adding a contact phone number and email address are extremely important. However, at the same time, the question of putting a physical address on a resume becomes a dilemma for many.
Why Address on a Resume Matters?
It doesn’t seem like adding an address on a resume will help the hiring managers much. As a matter of fact, most job seekers believe it doesn’t matter at all. That’s exactly why many candidates overlook the contact details thinking the employers are not interested in that section. The truth of the matter is that when it comes to resume writing, all details matter. Everything that seems insignificant can give you an edge over other candidates. Resume length, its structure, formatting, font, etc. – none of these things have anything to do with your work experience and potential. Nevertheless, they can disqualify you from the competition. The same goes for your address on a resume.
There is only one principle that should drive the resume writing process and help to define what to include in a resume and what to leave out – employers’ wants and needs. If you are not sure about something on your main marketing document, ask yourself whether your target employers would want to see it (will it help them in any way to assess you as a candidate?). The reason why candidates should include an address on a resume is as simple as this - the hiring managers expect to see it. Here are some reasons why:
- It helps them know your commute time. Those companies that do some serious digging into the candidates’ profiles often calculate the approximate commute time. If it turns out that a candidate will have to travel a big distance to get to work, it might be a red flag. Common sense tells us that those who usually travel significant distances to and from work are often stressed and tired. Consequently, such employees are likely to quit early.
- It shows you are not hiding anything. A traditional resume implies adding an address. If you fail to do so, some employers won’t even consider you assuming you are trying to hide something. Obviously, not all employers do that but why take chances?
- Sometimes they are after people from a specific geographical area. The companies sometimes seek candidates who live in a specific area. If you never bother to put your address on a resume, the HRs will unlikely want to spend extra time trying to find out where you are from. Besides, if you are applying for a federal government job, your physical address is required.
- It lets them run background checks. Some companies prefer performing background checks on prospective employees before making any hiring decisions. The procedure becomes more complicated if the employer doesn’t know the address. Providing an address on a resume makes the HR’s life easier which can work in your favor.
- They want to know if you are relocating. If you have made a decision to relocate, it is a smart move to apply for jobs in advance. In this case, you should add your address onto your resume as well as include this information in a cover letter. This should help employers understand that most likely you will not be immediately available for an interview.
How to Include Address on a Resume?
As we have mentioned before, your address should be a part of your contact information section, which usually consists of the name, physical address, email address, contact phone number. Also, the contacts could include a link to LinkedIn profile and portfolio. As a rule of a thumb, the name should be placed in the very top of the document with all of the contact details following under it. You can play with the sequence of the elements but usually, it goes like this: address, city, state, zip code, phone number, email address, etc. Check the example below to see how it looks.
