Top 10 things not to have on your resume and 10 alternatives.

 Top10ThingsNotToHaveOnResumeAlternatives

Many job seekers naively stuff too much information into a resume to attempt to communicate their qualifications for a position.  Unfortunately this ‘extra information’ may hinder efforts.  Recruiters look for hard facts in a resume – the warm, fuzzy, “…tell us more about you…” comes later in an interview.  Here are some facts about how too much information in a resume could hinder a job seeker.

When you write a cover letter, don’t include topics or subjects that hinder your job search.

1)             Dump:  An objective that takes up a quarter page of subjective self-aggrandizement that you think makes you look like a golden child (when recruiters abhor reading through this rubbish).  Alternative:  Note a job title for which you are applying – on one line.  Keep it simple.

2)             Dump: Irrelevant job experience such as the Happy Hamburger Joint 30 years ago when you were a teen.  Recruiters don’t want to read about non-relevant job experience, but they do want to know what you did during those absentee years between career relevant jobs.  Alternative: If you have a ‘job gap’ because it was a temp job, stay at home mom, disability related illness, don’t skip the time period, but do note, ‘Non-career relevant activities’ or ‘Personal Home Manager, Private Client’ to indicate you weren’t in jail, drug rehab, or a mental facility.

3)             Dump: Non-relevant or overtly religious activities such as team captain for your middle school swim team, you teach Sunday school or ferry the neighbor’s kids to school daily. Recruiters don’t care. Alternative: Recruiters are looking for ‘team’ activities as a conscientious adult – local or non-profit organizations volunteer efforts, as well as membership and activity in trade organizations. This activity may provide leverage for future business development for the company.

4)             Dump: Your photo (physical descriptions) or any information about family, children, or marital status. Don’t note you are disabled (or disabled veteran) or points preference (government jobs). This information is illegal for recruiters to ask – it may be used as an excuse to not hire you. Alternative:  Ensure your availability is noted in a cover letter (interview availability: Mon. – Fri., 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and any time weekends).  Let the recruiter assume you are 100% physically healthy and able to perform the work assigned to the job description.

5)             Dump: Mentions of hobbies on a resume – most recruiters don’t care what is done in your spare time as long as it doesn’t affect work.  Alternative: If your hobbies have won you awards, and aren’t ‘strange,’ it might be useful to show a variety of achievement for exceptional levels of performance (i.e., YYYY, Gold Medal Winner, Triathlon, Olympics, UT).

6)             Dump: Verbiage that hints ‘non-conformist’ to recruiters – religious beliefs, organizations based on sexual orientation, or political group affiliations. An exception – if seeking a position within a religious organization (or an organization striving for unique recognition) Alternative:  See # 3 above.

7)             Dump: Typos, poorly worded (or excessive) paragraphs, punctuation, and grammar identifying lazy or uneducated applicants.  Recruiters may have a perfect candidate resume but will trash it upon spying the first typo.  Alternative: Learn what the wiggly green or red lines mean under a word in a word processing document. Use grammar and spell check. Ask a peer to proof.

8)             Dump:  The ‘sexy’ email address. Check your voice mail message – how does it sound to a future employer?  Recruiters don’t want to hear a husky ‘hey, baby’ voice message and won’t respond to SexxxyMama@ emails. Alternative: Create an alternative email account used only for job search efforts and check it daily.

9)             Dump: The biggest mistake military service members make is listing social security numbers and birthdates on resumes.  This is ripe for identity theft – the home address and employment history is listed. Don’t use a landline number – use cell numbers only (Internet reverse lookups provide addresses).  Recruiters don’t need SS#, birthdates, or street addresses until an offer is made.  City and state info is good for relocation decisions.  Alternative: A P.O. Box, APO, and a geographic area such as Washington, DC metro area is good to note.  (Caveat: the federal government and defense contractors may require a SS# initially to confirm security clearances.)

10)         Dump: The fancy fonts, over-sized letters, colors, graphic lines, tables, columns, graphics, and logos are wasted.  The recruiters won’t see these anyway. When a resume is uploaded into a online resume database, it’s converted to plain text, dumps the ‘pretty.’ What gets sent to the hiring manager is a plain text version. Alternative: Keep the resume simple, bulleted lines of achievements, upper-case sub-sections, and blank lines between sections.  This keeps it streamlined for the parsing engine to convert the resume information into database fields.

Dawn Boyer is the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – a career services coach, social media management, human resources and business development consultant. She can be reached at Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or https://dboyerconsulting.com for resume writing services, LinkedIn training, or career-based social media management.