Physical address on the resume

Jobs out of the local area just need a credible story to ease concerns

Physical address on the resume?

Should you include a physical address on the resume? With unemployment rates where they are, applicants are applying for work farther away, and more candidates are willing to relocate. Before I go into any discussion, 20% of the company I currently work for has relocated to join our humble start-up so please know that it can be done. I post the below to explain how many recruiters and hiring managers look at this game and how you can beat the odds.

Should you list your physical address on your resume? My opinion is to keep it off. My question to you is:

 Why are you including your physical address on your resume?  Is a recruiter going to send you something in the postal mail?

Speed dating and dating apps can encourage colloquialisms like “I will call you” and “Let’s do lunch.” Today, no one sends written responses via postal mail. Is any company going to spend the money to buy and lick a stamp? Will they acknowledge your well-intentioned cover letter and resume? Is any company going to be gracious enough to say, “We just wanted to let you know we received your resume and appreciate your interest in Acme Publishing? We are reviewing your experience and will keep you updated.  In the meantime, enclosed is a formal job application”. Uhhh, probably not.  It may have happened 20 years ago, but it is no longer – Dorthy. We aren’t in Kansas anymore.

Where do the opinions come from?

1. This is the way our parents were taught to write their resumes. A generation ago, hiring managers were used to this format, which was pre-internet. This is the way we have written resumes for the last 50 years!
2. Federal and Government jobs require an address.

An address outside the hiring company’s local area will lose momentum. The company will wonder if you live close enough to the employer. When you live out of state, your commute and possible relocation costs become concerns.

The logic

I can understand and live with the first two bullet points. 1. There are traditional old-school companies with old-school managers, so give these folks what they want.  2. Usually, Federal and Government applications require an address. Here is my logic on the third and most important bullet.

If your resume is a PERFECT fit for the job description, I won’t just consider calling you. I WILL CALL YOU. I will contact you when you look like a perfect match for our job description. This is whether your address is listed or not. I will call you if you are the perfect match, even without your address! An ideal match doesn’t mean that you, the applicant, think, “Hey, I can do that job.”  A perfect match means:

You fulfill all the bullet points listed in the job description AND all the unlisted bullet points in the hiring manager’s mind.  If you live in the Continental United States, I will reach out.

How I think about your address

Most resumes (99.5%) appear decent (not great and not perfect), fit for the job. If you are ONLY a decent fit and your physical address indicates you are out of the local area, I will think twice about calling you. Although the hiring manager may want to go through the relocation and commute process, they won’t have to do any of the work that comes with it. Relocation doesn’t fall on the hiring manager; it falls under the purview of HR.  In the event of any negative fallout from a relocation, HR will put on the HazMat suit. 

An “average-looking resume” will probably not go the distance on the interview loop and isn’t a home run employee. Yes, you can probably do the job, but I can find people who can do it locally. If I’m going to worry about a long commute or relocation, I want someone who will excel in the job. My best shot with that is the perfect resume listed above.

On the other hand

If you appear to be a decent (but not perfect) fit for the job, and there is no address provided, I will likely call. I may be thinking in the back of my mind, “Where does this person live?” That being said, I will reach out. An address listing you outside the local area will increase my odds of hemming and hawing.  But if you are OUT OF THE LOCAL AREA and your address is absent. . . I will probably reach out to find out. Emails are fast and cheap. Leaving a voicemail costs nothing. The long-distance charges from Ma Bell of yesteryear are not in question. This is a subtle difference. It is enough to knock you out of the running. Your goal is to get a call back so you can sell yourself.

You don’t want to knock yourself out of the running before we determine if you’re a good fit. You want the opportunity to prove you are fit, and we can worry about commuting and relocating later.

It’s an online world

In today’s online world, the lack of a physical address on a resume isn’t that odd. I don’t need your physical address to reach you, I really don’t miss it. Your email and phone number will be missed if not listed on your resume, as I need these. I don’t need your physical address. If it isn’t there, I am not missing anything.

Here are my two cents on why you don’t need to put your physical address on the resume:

Your address will probably take up two lines on your resume, maybe three. Not only is this info taking up valuable space, but that useless information is taking up valuable real estate “above the fold” on your resume. These valuable lines should be used to list your branding statement or accomplishments.

Accomplishments that match the job description are the triggers that will get you called back. Your address will trigger a negative reaction, one that will NOT get you called back. No one will call you just because you live next door to the office.

What is the big deal about living more than 20-30 miles away from your place of employment?  Here are some of the behind-the-scenes thoughts on why being out of the area is less than desirable. None of this is fair. In some places, this is close to illegal. However, it does happen, and I want to help you overcome these obstacles. 

• More than 30 miles away: I don’t want to have to worry about you getting pissed off and frustrated about your long commute when the excitement of the new job wears off.
• I don’t want to worry about you coming in late due to traffic or fighting the weather if there’s snow on the ground.
• As ugly as this sounds, there are zip codes that some companies / hiring managers will think twice about hiring from because of assumed income / socioeconomic stereotypes.  Yes, HR can profile just like any other group.
• Out-of-state address: This is a red flag if I see an out-of-state address on a resume. I immediately think about relocation costs. (A family of 4 with a house can run $40K—$50K.)
• Do you understand the weather here? (It rains a lot in Seattle, and it’s frigid in Chicago, etc.)
• Will your spouse adjust when they do not have a job or friends in the new city?  (An unhappy spouse can affect your work at the new company.)

Hassle Tax

Instead of getting a hiring manager all worked up and excited, most recruiters would rather find a path with less hassle to their success.

Again, we hire many people from the local area. In my last two positions, I lived more than 30 miles away from where I currently reside. I know it can be done.

Coming soon: How to convince a recruiter that they should hire you despite you living out of the local area, and why relocation can be a good thing for the company.

See you at the after party,

HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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