Knowing How to Make a Resume Means Knowing What to Avoid

How to make a resume meaning avoiding certain things that are bound to send red flatg to a potential employer. As I mentioned before, I was once on the hiring side of things.  The resume sins I list below may seem glaringly obvious to many of us, but not, apparently, to everybody. Each and every one of them showed up on a resume that hit the Discard pile.

1.  Don’t scratch out the “career objective” that you used for the last job and write in a new career objective to fit the one you’re applying for.  “Hmmm”, I thought to myself, when I noticed that little addition. ”Last week this guy dreamed of being a sales rep in an electronic store. Today his vision is to be a instructor at a vocational school.”  I think not.  That is not how to make a resume that commands respect.

 2. Don’t include a transcript of your marks at school or university, unless you have been specifically asked to do so. My friend, also on the hiring side of things tosses out any resume that “includes a report card,” as she puts it. The transcript is inappropriate on a curriculum vitae.

3.  Make sure your address and contact information is up to date and accurate. I shall long remember one would-be job hunter who included a note saying he was moving around, didn’t know his address or phone number but provided the names of two or three friends to phone on the off chance that they might know how to contact him. “This guy is making me do more work that he’s willing to do himself,” I thought, and quickly added, “And that is how he will behave when he gets a job.”  No interview for him.

 4. Avoid including your hobbies and interests. These items take up the recruiter’s time and aren’t meaningful to the recruitment process. I expect there are a few employers who might hire someone based on the fact that you both love ping pong, but most would not. Worse, many will view it as inappropriate. There is one exception to this rule, however. If  your hobby or interest is directly related to the job, and if you have a level of expertise in the area, that could be worth mentioning. Even then, I might include it in a cover letter and not in the resume itself.

6. Knowing how to make a resume means knowing what is considered desirable in your country or geographic region. In Canada and the U.S., it is not necesary or desirable to include a picture of yourself, or any other image. It is not necessary to include age, race, marital status, children or lack thereof, religion, or sexual orientation. Not only is it unnecessary, many employers will consider it inappropriate.

7. Avoid writing an epic novel. Do your best to incorporate everything into two pages. Recruiters are busy and lack the time to wade through page after page. Knowing how to make a resume means knowing how to condense your information into succinct, informative items.

 8. Avoid excessive boasting. You do want to sell yourself in the best possible way, but you want to avoid writing a resume that reads like an over-hyped  sales page on a Web site.  I recall receiving a resume in which every item read ,”successfully answered the telephone,” “demonstrated exceptionally good word processing skills,” etc. Ho hum.

9.  Knowing how to make a resume means making a conservative, businesslike document.  Avoid neon paper or baby pink pastels or worse, paper with cutesy designs. A little subtle embossing is usually acceptable, but the flowers and ivy crawling up the side of the page is a no no. Avoid using non-businesslike fonts. Stick with the tried and true ones like Arial or Times or Times Roman.  And whatever you do, use a businesslike email address. Nobody is going to contact redhotstud@gmail.com  or bigmouthmama@yahoo.com for an interview. Well, perhaps I’m being too hasty. That might work depending on the type of job you’re applying for — nudge, nudge, wink wink. 

10.  Omit the jobs that you held for less than four months. They call this the four month rule. Employers aren’t interested in hiring people who they perceive as job hopping from one employer to the next. There are some exceptions to this however.  The exceptions would include temporary jobs, work placements or internships while you were a student, contract positions if you are an independent contractor, etc.

There you have it. My tips on what to avoid. For more in depth information on how to make a resume, please follow this link.