There are good and bad examples of leading and motivating. Good example: Student Leadership Representative, State College. Bad example: Captain of Al’s Bar Softball Team. IF you have very light business experience and MUST use volunteer or hobby activities to make points about your level of committment or ability to be a team member, be very careful about what your hobbies might say about you as a person. Member, Toastmasters International - probably good hobby that illustrates you work on public speaking skills. Reader, St. Mary’s Catholic Church is one where you think you are saying the same thing, but you aren’t.
Brainiac4 had one for some entry level marketing communications position at a small marketing communications firm where the objective was “To become the Vice President of Marketing at a Fortune 100 Company.” Cool, what do you want to do NOW to get there?
Oh, I had one from a guy who had a lot of experience with “Sysco switches and routers.”
Most already mentioned before, but:
[ul]
[li]Using the wrong cover letter for the company you’re applying for (happens every time we post a position… not an interview killer for us though.)[/li][li]Listing your elementary school [/li][li]Listing waaaaay non-applicable positions without at least trying to tie it in. (ie, listing framing experience for an IT job… at least say that the boss liked your professionalism on the job site, or something). In fact, you shouldn’t have a bunch of CVs, but you may want to emphasise/delete select items depending on the job applying for.[/li][li]Listing everything you’ve done, ever. Had a 20 page CV come through once that was impressive, but tedious. We wanted a C# programmer.[/li][li]Not including your contact info.[/li][li]Personal insight… if delivered in person, staple the resume together or something, or we just might interleave the pages with someone else and miss half your CV.[/li][/ul]
I think this is a cultural thing. I’ve heard this many times from Americans, but I can assure you that here in Canada (and I presume elsewhere), not listing at least a few hobbies and interests, no matter how banal or irrelevant, will ensure you get fewer interviews than the person who demonstrates that they have interests other than work. I believe the OP is in the United States, so this advice to avoid including them would be sound, but it would not necessarily be so in other parts of the world. Heck, in at least one place where I was involved in hiring in the past, the resume of anybody without hobbies or interests was automatically round-filed.
This, on the other hand:
…is excellent advice, no matter where in the world you are.
Dates are tricky, because companies don’t want to be accused of ageism. I’ve noticed that a lot of companies don’t want you to give them information that could be used in a discriminatory fashion (they don’t like you volunteering that you are a US citizen in an interview if that is not a requirement for the job, for example).
If your students are mostly of traditional college age, they probably don’t have to worry about putting degree dates on their resumes. Depending on your field and the kind of companies you are applying to, though, you’ll probably want to take the college dates off at some point. You don’t want to give an employer any reason to pass over your resume that you don’t need to, so don’t tell them on your resume that you’re over a certain age. You don’t want to tell them about your political or religious affiliations if you can possibly avoid it for the same reason.
I could even see leaving off your major or degree level, in some circumstances. I say this as someone who has been turned down for jobs because my background (degree in astronomy) is not typical for the kind of jobs I apply for, and I’ve had people say that they’re concerned that I’d leave as soon as something came up in astronomy (laughable, because there are no jobs in astronomy for someone with a master’s like me, but they say it anyway). I leave my astronomy degree on my resume, though, because it does make my resume more noticeable. This is one of those gray areas, IMO.
I could see leaving off your degree level because a master’s or PhD can make you look overqualified for some jobs. Some people will see that and assume that you’re going to ask for more money than they are prepared to offer.
This isn’t a college application essay. Don’t say anything in your resume, cover letter, or interview about any personal, financial, family, or medical hardships you’ve overcome to get to where you are. Don’t mention any of those things in the interview unless you are directly asked about them by the interviewer.
If you’re emailing your cover letter, it’s better to have no salutation than it is to have “Dear Hiring Manager” or “To whom it may concern”.
Anything to do with drinking, drugs, or smoking is another thing I would leave off your resume, and make sure there’s nothing having to do with drinking or drugs on any personal website listed on your resume. If your Myspace or Facebook or whatever page has anything about those things, take it down before you start applying for jobs (prospective employers may Google you). Don’t mention drinking or ask for a smoke break during your interview. If you are invited to a meal as part of your interview, don’t drink alcohol with it. Drinking, smoking, and drugs are NOT things you want your prospective employer associating with you. The exception is if you’re applying for a job as a bartender or sommelier or similar. I wouldn’t even mention being a caffeine addict unless you’re applying for a job with a coffee company. This may be another cultural thing- attitudes about alcohol and smoking are much stricter in the US than they are in many other countries.
Anything jokey or zippy or casual. Unless you’re applying for a super-creative position, or unless the people you’re addressing are well-known to you (and know you well), attempts at humor or hipness almost always come off as unprofessional.
Big long paragraphs of text in the cover letter. The cover letter should say: I am applying for X position. I have included Y materials. My qualifications are A, B, and C. Thank you for your attention to my application. As the person who has to winnow through the resumes (sometimes hundreds of them), I simply will not read any letter that looks like an excerpt from War and Peace.
Failing to tailor your resume and cover letter to the job you’re applying for. Do NOT send out one boilerplate res/letter to every job, only changing the address and saluation. A canned application almost always looks and sounds canned. Change at least the cover letter to include the buzzwords that jump out at you from the advertisement (a practice called “mirroring the advertisement”), so that you are showing that (a) you’ve actually read and understood what they are looking for and (b) you have all those qualities.
I recall one applicant who listed her hobbies as “Cycling, piano, knitting and cycling,” which led to some humor around the office: “I like cycling, and I like cycling!”
Another was a former “pubic defender” – I think that one got posted to the breakroom bulletin board (applicant identity blacked out, of course).
Ooh – another thing: Read carefully. My boss’s first name was “Tad.” All materials sent to “Tod” or “Ted” were summarily tossed out.
That’s interesting. I was always advised to list a few hobbies, and I suspect that was to indicate that I was capable of adult social connections and possibly social leadership outside of family and school. People told me that being the president of a club is a good thing to put on a resume; no need to mention that the club is basically a bunch of friends that sit around and yak every week.
As for controversialness… I think that would very strongly depend on context.
I was intrigued by the “no hobbies” advice too. Certainly here we’re similar to Canada. All of the resumés that I see have the candidates’ hobbies listed. And a candidate who listed no outside work interests would be binned straight away as “not a well rounded person”.
I agree with the reading carefully. I have an unusually spelled name, but I always give it as part of the job ad. (“Please send resumes to Fuffle Bobuffle.”)
People who misspell my name get tossed automatically. It’s not vanity; it’s just that they’ve proved that they don’t really care enough to pay attention to what they’re doing. This goes double when I’m hiring editors, for god’s sake.
Also bad is not really addressing what the job ad calls for. Always always always address everything the ad asks for in BOTH your cover letter AND your resume. This may require some tight writing to avoid becoming tedious, but otherwise I don’t know if you’re not mentioning something in your cover letter because you forgot, because it’s in your resume, or because you’re trying to hide a weakness. I usually assume the latter.
If you’re applying for a job you’re not really qualified for, say that (don’t dwell on it) and give a convincing case why you deserve the job anyway. “Although my work background is primarily in XX, my long-term career goal is to do YY. Many of my professional skills are directly transferable to XX, such as…”
And the “palsy” tone or the hard sell are always a death warrant. “Hey, I’m Bob the Amazing Sales Guy and wouldn’t you love to know what I can do for your company? I’ll ring you up on Tuesday and we can discuss my job then.” Sorry Bob, I’m suddenly out of the office every time you call.
I would go very strongly on the side of caution, though, since you don’t really know anything about the people who are going to be reading it. I would make sure there’s nothing in there to offend anyone from an arch-conservative who believes non-religious people can’t be moral to someone like our very own Der Trihs, or anything to make anyone in that range think less of your intelligence or character.
Also, if you can’t keep your political or religious views to yourself while writing your resume, how well is your prospective boss going to think you will get along with a client or co-worker who has very different views? Most jobs require that you be able to put aside your personal feelings and interact from time to time with people who you wouldn’t choose as friends or with whom you disagree strongly on some issues. Most bosses prefer that their employees not bring up controversial subjects like politics or religion in discussions of things that should have nothing to do with them. You don’t want to look like someone who would have trouble doing those things, any more than you want to look like someone who would have trouble getting to work on time, meeting deadlines, working with others, or doing work of acceptable quality. You really don’t want to give any indication that you might be the next problem employee.
For the same reason, you don’t want to say anything negative about any group of people or any individual in your resume, cover letter, or interview. This includes the obvious- don’t sound like you’re prejudiced against any race, religion, gender, nationality, age, or anything like that- that’s just unprofessional and unacceptable in this day and age. It also includes not bad-mouthing people like ex-bosses, ex-spouses, ex-co-workers, or other companies. Nobody wants to work with a whiner or with somebody who blames someone else for all their problems and failures.
This is something I was wondering about. About a third of my professional work right out of college was for the DNC, but I always struggled with whether or not it was wise to include those positions on my resume. Even when the position was relevant to the job being applied for.
That is absolutely not what she said. She said that she likes cycling and then she likes knitting and cycling. The first is rather plain but the latter is pretty interesting. It brings up a lot of questions about supply storage and knitting needle safety on rough terrain however.
In this case, they weren’t jobs. They were things like “president of the College Republicans.” If it was an actual job, I think it’s a different matter.
Never say anything about past or present medical or mental health issues in your resume, cover letter, or interview, even if those issues are relevant to why you want the job or if you think they might somehow make you more qualified for the job. I’m not sure if this is applicable in other countries, but it certainly is in the US, where employers in professional jobs generally pay for their employees’ health care coverage. Don’t mention any health issues that any family member who might be covered by your health insurance has, either (usually this is your children and your spouse or partner). They probably won’t ask health questions, anyway, except if you are obviously handicapped (and I think even then they’re not supposed to, so you can and should give them as little information as possible without actually lying), or if they are something relevant to the job (stuff like “can you lift 50 pounds?”).
On the subject of “spouse or partner”, I would consider any organization having anything to do with sex or sexual orientation to be controversial, and would leave it off my resume.
Never, ever, ask about time off or working hours in an interview. Asking that sort of question makes you look like a slacker. Never give any indication in an interview that you might take more time off than other employees- don’t mention things like child care responsibilities.
[cynicism]A lot of American employers don’t want “well rounded people”. They want people who will be dedicated to their job and available to work overtime if needed.[/cynicism]
I would say it makes a huge difference if it’s an actual paid job or volunteer work. If it’s a paid job, put it on your resume, unless you’re applying for a job where you know Democrats would not be welcome. If it’s not a paid job- no way.
[/li][li]Listing waaaaay non-applicable positions without at least trying to tie it in. (ie, listing framing experience for an IT job… at least say that the boss liked your professionalism on the job site, or something). In fact, you shouldn’t have a bunch of CVs, but you may want to emphasise/delete select items depending on the job applying for.[/li][li]Listing everything you’ve done, ever. Had a 20 page CV come through once that was impressive, but tedious. We wanted a C# programmer.[/li][li]Not including your contact info.[/li][li]Personal insight… if delivered in person, staple the resume together or something, or we just might interleave the pages with someone else and miss half your CV.[/li][/ul]