By Paul Negron, Employment Specialist
- Don’t lie.
- Don’t Lie: Be truthful about your education, work experience and any skills that you claim to have. In this digital age, everything can be uncovered. More importantly, you want to set yourself up for success on the job! Not having skills that you said you had will become apparent right away.
- Don’t List Personal Information: Avoid listing things like date of birth, marital status, height/weight, hobbies, interests, political or religious views and Social Security number. Let your work experience speak for itself!
- Your Picture: What you look like is irrelevant to your resume. Employers may avoid reading your resume because they may think you’re trying to influence them.
- Spelling & Grammatical Errors: Nothing will get your resume tossed faster than misspelled words. Also, watch out for different fonts listed. Be sure that all punctuation and spacing are accurate and uniform.
- References: The term “References Available Upon Request” is outdated and no longer used. Leave it off your resume. If you are asked for references, you can create a separate reference document.
- Negative Remarks: Never include why you left or anything negative about your past employers. Your resume should be a positive reflection of your skills and experience.
- Too Much Detail: It’s tempting to list all of your tasks. But, most recruiters scan a resume for just 20 to 30 seconds. Limit your job outlines to four or five bullet statements. Rather than listing tasks, be sure that each bullet statement starts with an action verb and highlights your strengths and achievements.
- Graphics: Leave off any art, logos and clip art on your resume. With these visuals, hiring managers may be distracted from your work experience. Creating a simple text version of your resume will also upload best to electronic employer databases.