Resumes with No Address

I answered the following question on LinkedIn today, and thought I’d publish my thoughts on whether a home address is on resumes.

Q: There is a growing concern among employment candidates with putting their home addresses on their resumes. Would you consider a candidate who sent you a resume with only a phone number or email contact?

A: One of the reasons for this trend is that more people, especially executives, are willing to be “location agnostic” – work anywhere, and commute back to their home turf, often at their own expense. They omit their address, because they don’t want an employer to de-select them based on location.

I think this trend is important for employers, because to get the best talent, it may be worth compromising. Do you really need to know where your employee sleeps? If they are at the Residence Inn 4 nights a week, and in your office 9-10 hours a day, and then 500 miles away 3 nights a week, if they get the job done, isn’t that what is important?

I believe that in general, the absence of an address on a resume should not be a concern in executive hires. If there are any issues in the candidate being able to get to the job, put in the time, etc., those can surface in the interviews in other ways.

For more insights, visit the Headhunter's Secret Guide: http://www.bobsearch.com/blog

Comment by Valentino Martinez on June 20, 2011 at 3:43pm: Depending on the location of the job and the possible requirement that an employee needs to physically be on the premises to perform that job--having an address on the resume would be important. It allows the employer to expedite consideration of all the local talent, particularly if the employer has a restricted or non-existent relocation budget.

Comment by Tom Byrne on June 20, 2011 at 4:37pm: Mark, I am a 3rd party IT recruiter based in the US. It has been common for several years for IT candidates to omit their home address on resumes. This does not bother me. However, what does irk me is a trend we are seeing (especially with foreign nationals) that only list their first name, cell # and email address. I guess we have Madonna, Cher, and Bono to thank for this. :-) Just kidding of course. I would much rather have the complete candidate name on the resume than their home address. A resume without the candidate's complete name is of little value to me.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 20, 2011 at 9:28pm: I normally will not contact a candidate who does not have their home address on their resume. There are unique situtations where a Sr. exec. is able to work in a location remote from home and commute but most of the clients i work with prefer to have someone relo to their area in order to be a more cohesive part of the managment team. It depends on what they do, their family situation, the geography.

A family illness of even a few weeks can wreck a Sr. exec who is trying to work remote from home base as can weather, expense and fourteen other things not to mention the joys of living alone in an extended stay or small apt most of the week. I don't think it is as simple as where they sleep four nights a week.

I know some who do it but they will tell you that after 6 to 8 months of that life style unless they are single with no children it gets old and nobody is very happy with it.

Comment by Melissa Zentgraf on June 21, 2011 at 3:16pm: @Tom: I see the same thing and I hate it with a passion usually reserved for rats and roaches. I won't call them. Lack of address I see as more of a privacy thing. A lot of the time, I'll just see the state or the city and state. How much do you want to put on a job board?

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 21, 2011 at 3:54pm: I don't have a problem with someone leaving their home address off of a public offering. I am talking about when i receive a resume sent directly to me.

The IT types with just the first name are normally the property of some contract firm who are rusing to get someone to try and call a candidate direct. the number turns out to be the off shore contracting firm. Then god help you trying to get off their list. It is in fact like trying to wipe out an infestation of roaches with a fly swatter. :)

Comment by JoAnn Carlin-Revesz on June 21, 2011 at 4:55pm: I'd call. Never close a door on a candidate. You never know the reasons behind the lack of information, better to call & ask the questions you need to ask.....referrals can always be around the corner!

Comment by Valentino Martinez on June 21, 2011 at 5:52pm: Yes, be mysterious when you put your resume together. Leave out key info like your address. If that doesn't attract someone like JoAnn who may just be curious enough to call you, then leave off job titles--maybe even current and former employer information. This will drive certain recruiters wild with curiosity.

In fact to be absolutely sure to inspire interest in you as a job applicant leave just enough clues to be a challenge to find. Recruiters have a built-in "treasure hunt" gene embedded deep in their nervous system. It's actually activated when candidates tease them into the hunt by being just barely identifiable thanks to a sparse resume.

So make our day. Take the stealth approach to getting on our radar screens. We love a good hunt.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on June 21, 2011 at 10:04pm: I don't care so much about street address, but city, state is a must.

Comment by JoAnn Carlin-Revesz on June 22, 2011 at 8:09am: Mr. Martinez - I'm not driven by curiosity - just by the desire to locate the ideal candidate for my clients. If a candidate has the skills I need - I want to talk to him. I can find out quicky if his location is an issue.

Comment by Chris Wallingford on June 22, 2011 at 9:38am: If the resume reflects appropriate experience for a particular position for which I am recruiting then, yes, I would call whether or not there is an address. Although I'd prefer to see where a client candidate lives I am not ruling her/him out because there is no address on the resume. You never know what an individual's situation is unless you speak with them. In the end, they might not be appropriate but they might know someone who is.