11 Things You Should Never Put on Your Resume

[CRAWDAD]

I copied this from Yahoo, thought is might help somebody out that is looking for a job.

 

A new batch of December graduates is getting ready to fly the coop in search of a job and we hope they've already heard the bad news: There are a lot of unemployed people out there.

 

If the market far exceeds demand, how do you make sure you get past the resume screening process into the interviewing round? By making sure your resume is flawless.

 

"Somewhere between 95 to 99% of resumes have stuff that shouldn't be on there," Eli Amdur, senior coach and adviser from the Amdur Coaching and Advisory Group, told us. "The general rule is if you put anything on there that distracts the reader from your real accomplishments, then don't do it. Resumes need to be concise and clear."

 

We've compiled some tips from career experts to make sure your resume steers clear of the trash pile.

 

1. Get rid of the objective.

 

If you applied, it's already obvious you want the job.

 

2. Cut out all the irrelevant work experiences.

 

If you're still listing that prized shift leader position from your high school days, it's time to move on.

 

Yes, you might've been the "king of making milkshakes," but unless you're planning on redeeming that title, it's time to get rid of all that clutter.

 

3. Take a pass on the personal stuff: marital status, religious preference and Social Security numbers.

 

This might've been the standard in the past, but all of this information is now illegal for your employer to ask you so there's no need to include it. It will likely only hurt your chances of getting the position more than it would help you, says Catherine Jewell, author of the book "New Résumé, New Career."

 

[see also: Jobs That Died in 2011]

 

Another piece of personal information you should never include on your resume is your Social Security number, Sara Player, client support specialist for CareerBuilder.com, told us. Player isn't actually sure why people decide to include their social security numbers, but she knows she sees it all too often and it's unnecessary, not to mention, a little risky.

 

4. Don't let your resume exceed one page.

 

Yes, this might be difficult if you've had a lot of experience and you're proud of all of it. But just because you're proud doesn't mean it's necessarily relevant. Cut it down; employers don't have the time to read two whole pages.

 

CareerBuilder.com's Sara Player says: "Keep your work history short and to the point. When you describe what you have achieved while in the position, try putting it in bullet form and put what is most important first."

 

5. Don't list your hobbies.

 

"Nobody cares — it's not your facebook profile," Player says.

 

In other words, don't put anything on your resume that's irrelevant to your job. If it's not relevant, then it's a waste of space and a waste of the company's time.

 

6. Don't give them the chance to guess your age.

 

Yes, your age is included in personal data, but if you don't want to be discriminated from a position because of your age, it's time to remove your graduation date, says Catherine Jewell.

 

Doug Hadley of Mansfield, Texas, told MSN that he's begun to leave out the fact that he's a published author: "I don't want to have to omit such things, but I feel as though I don't even get considered if they are on my resume."

 

Sara Player advises to take out higher education if it's irrelevant to the position you're applying for or if you keep receiving rejection letters stating that you're overqualified.

 

7. Don't write your resume in the third person.

 

Charlotte Beckett, head of Digital at The Good Agency, told Linkedin.com that it's fine to write in first person in your opening statement, but the rest of your resume should be in bullet points, such as:

 

• Developed and delivered marketing strategies for a range of products

 

[see also: 10 Buzzwords to Avoid on Your Resume]

 

You should not write in the third person since the recruiter knows you're the one writing the resume.

 

8. Don't include references.

 

If your employers want to speak to your references, they'll ask you. Also, it's better if you have a chance to tell your references ahead of time that a future employer might be calling.

 

If you say "references upon request" at the bottom of your resume, you're merely wasting a valuable line, says career coach Eli Amdur.

 

9. Don't include a less-than-professional email account.

 

Make a new one. It takes minutes and it's free.

 

10. There's no need to identify your phone number.

 

Amdur says there's no reason to put the word "phone" in front of the actual number.

 

"It's pretty silly. They know it's your phone number." The same rule applies to email.

 

11. Don't include your current business contact info.

 

Amdur writes at Northjersey.com:

 

"This is not only dangerous, it's stupid. Do you really want employers calling you at work? How are you going to handle that? Oh, and by the way, your current employer can monitor your e-mails and phone calls. So if you're not in the mood to get fired, or potentially charged with theft of services (really), then leave the business info off."

[Rally Pat]

I'll be honest, I disagree with a lot of these. I must be doing something right, though. I've never not been offered a job I interviewed for.

[CRAWDAD]

I've had the same job for 13yrs and was in the marine corps before that. I thought it was interesting to see so many things that were differant from what i was taught in high school 90-94.

 

I can see the point of putting to much info on a resume.

[Diamonds]

Who doesn't have a 2 page resume??? I agree that 3 is too much... And that 1.5 looks dumb... 2 full pages is fine, don't listen to that in the article

[RyM3rC]

Fucking Yahoo. I don't think they screen their "News" before they put it up. Shameless.

[LJ]

Who doesn't have a 2 page resume??? I agree that 3 is too much... And that 1.5 looks dumb... 2 full pages is fine, don't listen to that in the article

 

Agree to a point.

 

If you are going after your 2nd career position 3 years out of college, I don't see a point listing that waiter position you had while in college, or the job shoveling shit in HS. So obviously then it should be kept to 1 page.

 

And obviously if you have held positions at a very high level, you are most likely going to have a more in depth CV at that point.

[Richard Cranium]

Who doesn't have a 2 page resume??? I agree that 3 is too much... And that 1.5 looks dumb... 2 full pages is fine, don't listen to that in the article

 

I respectfully disagree. Plan on the recruiter looking only at the first page. If it's not important enough to go on the first page it's not important enough to go on your resume. Remember, the only job of the resume is to get the interview. You can go into as much detail as you want in the interview. When a recruiter has 2 or 3 hundred resumes to go through they will not be reading them all in depth, and if it's me I'm not reading the second page.

 

And for the record, I don't have a 2 page resume. Cut the fat and leave the meat that will get you the interview. Give them the information they need and leave the rest out.

 

If you are applying for a job that will be relatively exclusive (high level, only a small number of qualified applicants) then maybe 2 pages if you need that much space to demonstrate your qualifications.

[TTQ B4U]

As someone who has hired and is hiring a lot of people, I've worked closely with HR over the years and agree the market today has changed a lot. With so many people applying for jobs (seriously rediculous amounts) many employers turn to referrals and their own "network" to find good people. Often way before the job is actually posted. We just don't have resources to sift through resumes. Key point being, your network of people is critical to securing your resume is even looked at. Remember, everyone has a resume and the top percentage are always good. Why would I read yours or even talk with you?

 

Today it's not about just a good resume, it's what you do well before that which will get you the interview. We have several open positions paying $80-$150k and none of our candidates will come from blind resumes. We will get our initial pool from referrals. Then we move onto resumes and experience review. Network, Network, Network.

 

Objectives: Agree....so dated and old school it's not funny. The top section of your resume, depending on format is likely to now contain key phrases and words that are targets of HR Systems when searching.

 

Experience: Agree, keep it relevant. Key is to show tangable, measurable reason or points below each role that exemplify your success in that role. I look for what you did and what you can do for us if I were to hire you. Prove to me you can do the job and bring me what I'm looking for and I'll put you at the top of my stack.

 

Definitely avoid personal stuff. No one cares at this point and in many cases are not even within compliance to discuss during the interview process. You actually become a risk sharing it. I get mad when I see it as it not only shows a lower level of maturity and understanding of the business world, but it exposes me to risks that I don't need thus likely that I won't even consider you. I don't care that you're married, catholic or where you were born.

 

Length: Depends on your experience. If you're young, you shouldn't have a long resume. I'm older thus mine is at 2 pages now. Format is solid though and that too is key. Keep it clean. 2 pages is fine if you have experience because again, today's format is different than years ago. I'd be happy to review any if you have them.

 

Most employers won't care what you did 10+ years ago. They are going to look to see solid performance and contributions with the past 5 years and are more interested in longer term stability vs job hoppers. I'm sorry even in todays economy, employers still value stability. They can understand layoffs, but stability and performance still wins out.

 

Hobbies: All I will say here is insure your online life is clean. Facebook and other publicly accessible sites usually do more harm than good. I'll leave it at that. Get on sites like LinkedIn and get involved in your community. Public Speaking and true leadership roles are key regardless of what you're applying to do.

 

Education: Be careful not to appear as a career student. I love seeing master degrees and what not but honestly, real world measurable experience is worth more. I've yet to see a recent master's degree candidate hold a candle to someone with 5-10yrs real world contributions. In the end, it will still take that grad student 5-10yrs to ramp up and I'll have to pay them more from day one. Meh....

 

References: Be prepared but only provide them when asked. Try not to include your previous bosses. It's a given that if if you are a good candidate that they will back you. I look for customer input, coworker input (especially those outside your dept) as I'm looking for how well you interact and establish inter company relationships and care for customers. Include Customer, Coworkers, Vendors or Industry Respected people not working at your company.

 

Again, I expect your old boss and best friend in your dept to say nice things about you. Show me more.

 

That's my two cents in multiple paragraphs so that I continue to live up to Gabes Expectations. :gabe:

Edited December 22, 2011 by TTQ B4U

[LJ]

P.S. if anyone has any experience with Medical Professional CV's, please contact me.

[99BlownYellowGT]

#9 You cant believe some of the emails i see these people put on applications......Weedsmokinghoe6969@yahoo.com for example

[Mallard]

Words

words

words

 

All of this is valuable info for anyone seeking a professional position. It can't be stressed enough how important networking is. Starting in April my group had 25 open positions to fill, and a further 8-10 were added through the year. Today we STILL have somewhere around 20 of these still available. We have wasted so much time on worthless interviews that you start to think that there's no one out there worth a damn anymore. If a trusted member in the group makes a referral they are almost guaranteed an interview. I made a referral and they had him in 2 days later, where a normal resume submission could take weeks.

 

Also, never lie in an interview. If you don't have certain experience, education, or something on your record be frank about it, because it will be found in a backgroud check and it will immediately disqualify you from the position, no matter how small.

 

My group has been looking for a vehicle technician for a few months. In the job posting it says you must have a clean driving record. We've had multiple people admit to DUI's in the interview, and we have made two offers to people who said they were "clean." One turned out to have a felony and the other had a DUI. Now if either of those individuals were candid and said, "Four years ago, blah, blah, blah, I've turned my life around and I'm clean now." they would still have the job. But because they lied in the interview they were shown the door.

 

P.S. We're still looking for a vehicle technician in the Pontiac, MI area. Referrals are welcome.

[V8 Beast]

Great info in here!

 

Remember there is no one way to do it just make sure you relay a clear message tailored to your audience. An old boss of mine loves the personal info about hobbies because it shows a work life balance. I use the objective to see if you can relay your reason for applying in a constructive well thought out / professional way. The HR director doesn't care for the objective but likes to view education. In our interview workshop I found out a lot of people would rather have short video resumes and remove the lifeless peice of paper. I never really thought of that but it would be great for prescreens. You almost have no way of knowing the preference of the person across the table so universal formats are safe until you apply for higher end jobs.

[Diamonds]

P.S. if anyone has any experience with Medical Professional CV's, please contact me.

 

Me

[thorne]

I agree with most of that but I just finished reviewing a round of resumes for an open position on my team. IT resumes can be way more then 1 page. I think 3 pages is about the industry average though in my reviews I did see up to 5 pages.

[GRN96WS6]

I agree with most of that but I just finished reviewing a round of resumes for an open position on my team. IT resumes can be way more then 1 page. I think 3 pages is about the industry average though in my reviews I did see up to 5 pages.

 

That is a blanket statement at best...if you under 5 years in IT one page should be enough IMO. Anything from 6-10 two pages, 10+ 3 but I'd be really hesitant to make it more then 3 overall. People need to cater their resume for the position they are applying for.

[V8 Beast]

People need to cater their resume for the position they are applying for.

 

You are 100% right. But to take it one step further, catoring to the the hiring person/group rather than just the position is great... If possible

[jerrodh]

I agree with most the points but as everyones discussing if you have a lot to say just be clear about it. If it runs past the first page then no worries, just make sure your not using any filler. If it is all revelant information that deserves to be on the resume then put it there. Also if your going to use 2 or three pages your first page better "capture" the reader, because as said they won't even look at the additional pages. So make sure page 1 has enough to entice them to turn the page.

[KennyFKINPowerz]

That is a blanket statement at best...if you under 5 years in IT one page should be enough IMO. Anything from 6-10 two pages, 10+ 3 but I'd be really hesitant to make it more then 3 overall. People need to cater their resume for the position they are applying for.

 

I have 13 years in IT and my resume is 4 pages. If i add anything it stretches to 5 so I am always removing stuuf to add more and keep it at 4 pages.

 

You are 100% right. But to take it one step further, catoring to the the hiring person/group rather than just the position is great... If possible

 

This is exactly what I do. I have 4 different versions of my resume.

[GRN96WS6]

I have 13 years in IT and my resume is 4 pages. If i add anything it stretches to 5 so I am always removing stuuf to add more and keep it at 4 pages.

 

 

 

This is exactly what I do. I have 4 different versions of my resume.

 

I agree with catering it to the person but it isn't always easy to do so if you don't know who you'll be interviewing with.

 

I've seen some resumes in my day that are just pathetic. I don't know where they learned to write or format or anything but they plain out sucked.

 

4 pages it a bit much 13yrs or not....3 should really be the top amount, shorten your exp to bullet points. The people you'll be interviewing with know what those mean and you can elaborate if needed/asked.

[V8 Beast]

4 pages it a bit much 13yrs or not....3 should really be the top amount, shorten your exp to bullet points. The people you'll be interviewing with know what those mean and you can elaborate if needed/asked.

 

This is exactly why its best to find out what people are looking for. Your opinion is 3 pages.. Thornes reviewing resumes for his department and is ok with more. The techs in the resume workshop for Verizon said no more than 4. The fact that its literally up to the people in charge means if Im writing one for IT... Im doing 2 pages and playing it safe

[KennyFKINPowerz]

Mine has been 4 pages for years and I have never had any problems getting a job. I have recieved nothing but compliments about my resume and how impressive it is.

 

However if I were doing the interviewing and I had 50 resumes sitting in front of me, then I would not want long resumes that I had to go through.

[Crossle]

 

Education: Be careful not to appear as a career student. I love seeing master degrees and what not but honestly, real world measurable experience is worth more. I've yet to see a recent master's degree candidate hold a candle to someone with 5-10yrs real world contributions. In the end, it will still take that grad student 5-10yrs to ramp up and I'll have to pay them more from day one. Meh....

 

 

I argued this point with several people when making my education decisions long term. I am still happy with my choice. Just because you spent more time in school does NOT necessarily make you more qualified for a position when it comes to trades.

 

I have an Associate degree BTW, I'm not a high school drop out or anything.

[V8 Beast]

Ive always wondered why some majors are even offered in college. Some of them the students would be better off spending the 4 to 5 years getting real world experience. Even better the right job will train you and offer tuition reimbursement while adding to your resume.

[TTQ B4U]

Ive always wondered why some majors are even offered in college. Some of them the students would be better off spending the 4 to 5 years getting real world experience. Even better the right job will train you and offer tuition reimbursement while adding to your resume.

 

To take tuition from a wider range of people. Even Billy who sucks his thumb at age 23 but is a hell an underwater basket weaver. His parents are so proud.

[mrs.cos]

The reaso your 4 page resumes get you hired is because something in the first page hooked them in. When Nathan is interviewing people he says if they don't hook him in the first 10secs he moves on. When you aregoing through 100+ resumes you aren't going to read a 4 page resume unless something interesting is on page one and even then its not going to be read till the 2nd or 3rd weeding out.