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2011-03-29 09:23:23
By Alison Green Mon Mar 28, 10:21 am ET
Chances are good that you're making a few of these common mistakes on your
resume. How many are you guilty of?
1. Relying on outdated sources of advice. Resume conventions have changed
dramatically in the last 20 years. If you're reading a book that insists you
use an objective on your resume or that you can't exceed one page, chances are
good that you're reading something outdated (or listening to someone who hasn't
hired recently).
2. Including every job you've ever had, no matter how irrelevant or long ago. A
resume isn't meant to be an exhaustive accounting of every job you've ever
held. It's a marketing document designed to present you in the strongest, most
compelling light. That means you don't need to include every job you've ever
had, or the part-time work you did on top of your regular job last year, or
even your degree in an irrelevant field if you don't want to. You get to decide
what you do and don't include. The only rule is that you can't make things up.
3. Listing only job duties, rather than accomplishments. Resumes that really
stand out go beyond what your job description was and instead answer this
question: What did you accomplish in this job that someone else might not have?
4. Including subjective descriptions. Your resume is for experience and
accomplishments only. It's not the place for subjective traits, like "great
leadership skills" or "creative innovator." Hiring managers generally ignore
anything subjective that an applicant writes about herself, because so many
people's self-assessments are wildly inaccurate; they're looking for facts.
5. Leaving out volunteer work. Sometimes during the course of an interview, I
discover someone has highly relevant experience they didn't include on their
resume because it was volunteer work and they thought it "didn't count." It
counts! Your accomplishments are your accomplishments, even if you did the work
"pro bono" rather than for pay.
6. Including inappropriate information. Information about your spouse or
children, your height or weight, or your salary history doesn't belong on your
resume. (And yes, people really do include these things.)
7. Getting creative at the expense of clarity. If you're thinking of trying
something "creative" with your resume, like unusual colors or a non-traditional
design, make sure your desire to stand out isn't getting in the way of the
whole point of resume design. Here's what most hiring managers want from a
resume: a concise, easy-to-scan list of what you've accomplished, organized
chronologically by position, plus any particularly notable skills, all
presented in a format that they can quickly scan and get the highlights. That's
it. Creativity, while a nice trait, doesn't trump those requirements, so make
sure whatever format you use works in those ways.
8. Having tiny inconsistencies. If you want to come across as someone who takes
care in your work and is attentive to detail, pay attention to the small
things: Do you have periods after some bullet points but not after others? Do
you use consistent verb tenses throughout? Do you randomly start using a
different font or type size? These things seem nitpicky, but even small
inconsistencies can jump out to an attentive reader.
9. Sending your resume without a cover letter. If you're applying for jobs
without including a compelling cover letter--customized to the specific
opportunity--you're missing out on one of the most effective ways to grab an
employer's attention. A cover letter is your opportunity to make a compelling
case for yourself as a candidate, totally aside from what's in your resume.
10. Believing every piece of resume advice anyone gives you. Yes, it may sound
funny coming from me, but the reality is that you can give your resume to 10
different people who are all qualified to give resume advice, and you'll get 10
different sets of recommendations: Use this font, use that font, don't go over
one page, two pages are fine, objectives are required, objectives are silly--it
can be enough to drive you crazy.
The reality is, there are few hard and fast universal rules aside from the
obvious (no typos, no illegible fonts, no 10-page rambles, no inappropriate
sharing of your personal life). But there are trends--conventions that are
gaining majority support. For instance, most hiring managers agree that
functional resumes are frustrating and possibly hiding something. And two-page
resumes have become completely acceptable these days. But even these trends
aren't flat-out rules. The best you can do is to get a feel for the types of
things people care about and why and make choices that make sense for you and
the job you want.
Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog where she dispenses advice
on career, job search, and management issues. She's also the author of Managing
to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader's Guide to Getting Results and former
chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw
day-to-day staff management, hiring, firing, and employee development. She now
teaches other managers how to manage for results.