What Should NOT Be On Your Resume

In our eagerness to obtain an interview, we sometimes have a tendency to provide a prospective employer with inappropriate information that would be detrimental to us, resulting in both a loss of interest and an interview.

Keep in mind that a prospective employer, who must review 200 to 400 resumes for an advertised position, is busy and has to rule out or disqualify all but a handful of those resumes in an attempt to find only qualified candidates. If he or she can't easily find what they are looking for immediately (in 20 seconds), it probably will get discarded. In order to avoid having your resume land in the "round file," here are a few hints.

• Avoid nicknames, using your business name and middle initial.

• Don't try to impress or insult the employer with fancy words as you may frustrate them and perhaps have your resume rejected.

• Never include personal information such as age, race, gender, height, weight, religion, national origin, marital status, children, health, physical appearance, or a photograph of yourself.

• Do not handwrite your resume. Typewriters are fine, but a computer and printer should be used if possible. Be sure to use tabs instead of the space bar when typing.

• In your Objective, never tell an employer what YOU expect out of a job -- only what you can contribute. Keep in mind that it's not up to the employer to motivate you and present challenges -- it's up to YOU. If you mention in your objective that you wish to advance within the organization, this could work against you in that the position for which you are interviewing may be a dead-end job.

• If using a Profile, don't include the same information listed on the resume. When listing your current and past employers, omit street names, zip codes, telephone numbers, and the names of supervisors. You really shouldn't go back any further than 10 to 15 years regarding employment, unless it is directly related to the position for which you are applying.

• When listing job duties, don't use sentences or paragraphs, as you don't want to be too wordy and bore the reader. Instead, use bullets without punctuation, maintaining consistency throughout.

• Don't eliminate a previously held job just because it doesn't relate to your career goal. You don't need to elaborate – just mention it -- as you don't want a gap in employment.

• Never divulge the reasons why you left each place of employment nor your availability to begin working for the company -- both of which should be discussed in the interview.

• Don't place Education before Employment unless you are a current or soon to be graduate or have received your degree within the last two years, unless your education relates to the position for which you are applying. Don't include your GPA unless it is at least 3.0 or higher.

• Salary or wage should never be mentioned until an offer is presented at the interview and only if brought up by the prospective employer. The only exceptions would be if salary history or requirements are mentioned in the ad, in which case you need to follow the directions given.

• Hobbies and personal interests should be omitted unless they represent your career goal, such as "golfer" for a position at a golf course.

• Never list your references or the words "references furnished upon request" as this is an insult to the prospective employer's intelligence. Of course you will provide these if he or she requests them -- which wouldn't be until after your interview. So why give them information they may not need?

• Don't forget to put your name on the second page, in case it separates from the first page.

• Don't use cheap paper, carbons or onionskin. Don't use wild or bright colors for your resumes, as you want to remain conservative and business-like.

• Upon completion of your resume, have your copies professionally reproduced -- not on a copy machine.

• Don't submit a resume longer than two pages. Never print on two sides of the same paper.

• Make sure there are no typographical or grammatical errors, erasures, white outs, scratched out or rewritten text, and that your paper isn't dirty, ripped, ink-marked, stained or wrinkled. Check that your verb tense is proper, using past and present tense when appropriate.

• To keep the professional image, it is suggested that you don't staple your resume.

• Prior to sending your resume, check to see if you placed adequate postage on your envelope and put a return address on it.

• Don't forget to include a cover letter with your resume as this is expected in the business world.

Keep in mind that you are marketing yourself with your resume. Be creative, honest and assertive. Before you mail your resume, review it one last time. Then ask yourself this question, "If I am a prospective employer, and I just read my resume, would I hire me?"