Photos. For cryin’ out loud, don’t include a photo. Many years ago, I recall a resume that included a photo and the office laughed at it for days. And, that was nearly 20 years ago and I still remember it.
Mentioning irrelevant hobbies and poor spelling are a dangerous combination. As demonstrated by the resume I saw at my last job, where the gentleman, evidently a fan of a certain genre of urban music, described himself as a “raper.”
Absolutely. I have heard that including a photo with your resume or CV may still be acceptable or even expected in some other countries. But in the US, it’s right out. Employers will probably throw it away like radioactive cat litter, because it opens the door to so many ways companies can discriminate illegally (racism and ageism, just for starters). Or everybody in the office will laugh at you for not knowing what you’re supposed to send them. Neither of those is something you want.
Don’t send anything gimmicky with your resume. For example, don’t send a shoe and say in your cover letter “now that I’ve got my foot in the door…” Those gimmicks might have worked, once, in very specific circumstances. They are extremely unlikely to make your resume noticeable in a good way (remember, having a noticeable resume isn’t always a good thing). Don’t send anything with your resume except for a cover letter and anything requested by the employer (application form, sample of work, stuff like that).
I have to link to Resumania . This site is always one I look at every time I’m applying for jobs. Writing resumes sucks. This site is great for comic relief.
Some of the things I remember from my hiring days:
As others have mentioned, if the cover letter misspelled the company name or my name, it meant that the candidate didn’t even do the most rudimentary proofreading. Straight to the trash can.
A misspelling in the resume wasn’t an automatic rejection, but certain TYPES of misspellings were. A “pearl programmer” (or worse yet, “programer”) or a “Mackintosh expert” (it was a tech firm, we didn’t care if you knew raincoats) or a “systems analist” wouldn’t get a phone call. Neither would people who consistently misspelled the names of companies they used to work for.
A little bit of understated color is fine. Having section headers and bullets in navy blue dresses things up a bit. But no more than one color, no “highlighting,” no bright or pastel colors.
Don’t say that the reason for leaving each of your last six jobs was that the boss was an unprofessional jerk, or that you quit because your raises weren’t big enough. Maybe that IS the reason, but don’t say it.
It’s been said before in this thread, but it just can’t be repeated enough: if your email address is fluffybunnyslippers@hotmail.com, then get a new email address during the job search.
I actually had a resume come in with no contact information. Just a name. I figured if the applicant didn’t supply me with a phone number, fax number, mailing address, email address, or Web site, he must not want me to contact him.
I also disagree with the “no hobby list” sentiments earlier in the thread. Outside interests are good, especially when relevant. If I’m hiring electrical engineers, I like seeing a list of positions held at IEEE. I do not, however, care if you are a member in good standing of the Oddfellows Lodge, or whether you enjoy underwater photography.
If you’re a polyglot, please list your languages. It’s a biggie. Even though I may not have said anything in the job listing about it, it’s quite handy having a Spanish-speaker (or whatever) on the staff, and it could be the tie-breaker that gets you the job.
No Jesus fish on the resume, please. If you are proselytizing on your resume, then you’ll probably be a disruptive influence in the workplace. The same goes for pentagrams, stars of David, or any other religious symbol.
Readable fonts, please! If you use a fluffy scripty font that I have trouble reading, then I won’t bother reading it. Ditto if you print the resume in a 7-point font. I’m not going to get a magnifying glass to read your resume. I’m just going to toss it.
I received resumes/cover letters more than once that said “do not call current employer–they don’t know I’m leaving” and also said “I can start right away.” If you’re job hunting while employed AND planning to quit without even the courtesy of 2 weeks notice, then you’re probably going to do it to me down the road, too.
There is no reason to include statements like “Married with two wonderful children, ages 7 and 9.” I’ve also gotten resumes that specified “single” and included a picture (both times from women). Are you hunting for a job or a date? Cut that out.
Please do list relevant computer skills. You are an expert with AutoCAD, Excel, Photoshop, and InDesign? Awesome! That could help. I do not, however, care whether you’re really good at World of Warcraft and have a level 70 warlock on the Kirin Tor server.
My favorite bad resume, however, was for an entry-level programming job. I needed someone with a degree and a year or two of experience. This resume was seven (!) pages long, including a 2-page list of publications in tech magazines. The fellow had a Ph.D. in science (I forget which science), and absolutely zero applicable experience. The topper, though? He said in the cover letter that he was looking for a job that would allow him to take three months off every summer to go mountain climbing.
I’ve been told that having hobbies and interests on your resume is just not done. Often, the employer will assume that you’re a dork with no life if your hobbies track with your professional background, or that you’ll goof off on company time if you’re into gaming or the Internet. In fact, one resume maven I talked to said that she’s heard of people being passed over for jobs if they list physically active hobbies because the employer doesn’t want to deal with the possibility of having expensive health insurance claims in case of an injury, or with chronic attendance problems due to ideal weather.
My addition to this: Do not, under any circumstances, put your social security number or driver’s license number on your resume. You don’t know who’s got access to your resume during the review process, and not everyone is honest. You also invite inquiries into your life that may not be appropriate until the background check, if it gets that far.
Robin
Don’t lie on your resume. They will find out, and they will not hire you. If they don’t find out until after they hire you, they may fire you.
Don’t put “reason for leaving” on your resume. It’s not done these days, and it’s a huge potential minefield.
When you do have to give reasons for leaving previous jobs (either on an application form or in the interview), the acronym CLAMPS is a good mnemonic for the acceptable ones:
C: Challenge. Your previous job wasn’t providing enough of one, or wasn’t providing opportunities to grow professionally.
L: Location. Your commute was too long, or you moved to be near family or for your spouse’s job.
A: Advancement. There were no opportunities to get ahead, or it was taking longer than you would have liked.
M: Money. You weren’t being paid enough.
P: Prestige. You wanted to work with a bigger or more prestigious company.
S: Security. You didn’t think your previous job was very secure.
If one of these is at all plausible for why you left your previous job, use it. But don’t lie- if you say one thing about why you left a job, and your references say something very different, that doesn’t look good.
Don’t use a job application or interview question about your reason for leaving your previous job as a forum for airing complaints about ex-bosses or ex-co-workers. Your prospective boss doesn’t want to hear about your problems with your boss or co-workers at a previous job. At best, he or she doesn’t care. At worst, it makes you look like a whiner who is difficult to get along with. Save it for the Pit.
These cultural differences are very interesting. Here an interest in sport would be considered a plus because it demonstrates that the candidate is physically active and likely to be more healthy. Also, if it’s a team sport, then it suggests that the candidate can work with others. Of course, it helps too that employers are not responsible for their employees’ health insurance.
The flip side is that hobbies can be an icebreaker, and I’ve known people who were called in for interviews just because they have an interesting hobby. But overall, it’s seen as a negative, and something that is safe to leave off.
To Crocodiles and Boulevards, if you worked for the DNC in a formal employment or internship situation, or if what you did is directly related to the job you’re seeking, it’s probably safe to include it. But if all you did was stuff envelopes or some other volunteer scutwork, leave it off.
Robin
You probably don’t want a Personal section on your resume. On Resumania, I saw one example where someone listed their height and weight under Personal. I saw another example where someone talked about their marital and family status. None of those things has any place on your resume unless you are applying for a job that has job-related height or weight requirements (firefighter, police officer, or astronaut are examples of jobs that might).
There shouldn’t be anything pertaining to something that would be an illegal or iffy interview question on your resume or cover letter. Your resume and cover letter shouldn’t have any information about your race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, level of religious observance, national origin, birthplace, age, disability, health, weight, marital status, family status, future plans regarding marriage or family, child or elder care arrangements, personal finances, living arrangements (whether you rent or own your home, who lives with you, etc), transportation arrangements (whether you have a car), arrest or criminal record, or citizenship. Don’t mention anything about your spouse or partner in your resume or cover letter. The interviewer shouldn’t bring up any of these subjects in the interview, and you shouldn’t volunteer any information about them.
If you share a phone with someone who likes to answer phones in humorous ways, or who takes messages but not reliably, get your own phone and use it for job stuff.
A lot of this advice is very bad for IT people. If you cram your resume into 1 page it is going to make you look incompetant. Each job you have held should be at least 1/4 page, and a full page for one job is common. IT people would much rather read the details of what you have worked with than call you up to figure it out. And just a listing of random skills doesn’t say a damn thing about what you actually know, and It will get thrown in the garbage. Details, IT needs a lot of details.
re: hobbies
It is definately a gray area as to whether or not it’s a good idea. But when the stakes are getting a job or not, the smart money is to err to the side of caution.
The thing about hobbies is that a hobby that is interesting to one person scanning your resume is probably going to be a deal breaker for someone else reading it.
resume: I enjoy a brisk game of golf every other weekend.
reviewer A: Great! Wonder if I’ve ever seen him/her on the course?
reviewer B: Great. Another golf nut. (shred)
So my thoughts are that if hobbies are going to be discussed they can wait for the small-talk / who-are-you portion of the interview where you’ve hopefully had a chance to test the water first.
This is why I eventually stopped using resumes and switched to a CV. It spends very little time on where you have worked and a lot of time on what you have done.
I think we’ve established that one should err on the side of culture. As Sunspace and I have pointed out for Canada, and Cunctator has confirmed for Australia, hobbies and interests should be included on resumes submitted to companies in those places. Subject, of course, to any potentially controversial ones involving politics and/or religion, such as (IIRC) Anne Neville mentioned. It is equally obvious that, because of the many posts from Americans advising against the practice, that they should not be included on resumes sent to companies in the United States.
This would seem to be a good general rule to follow, since it is in accordance with cultural norms for each place. In Canada and Australia, you include them. In the United States, you do not. Simple enough.
Well, since everyone is here…
I’m going to an internship fair tomorrow since I need an internship to graduate in spring. On my resume (leftover from my Peace Corps application), I have a section for Volunteer Experience. It was appropriate for the Peace Corps, but should I leave it on when looking for an internship?
It takes up about a third of my resume and displays leadership skills (coordinator for annual campus event and officer of a student club). I’m a sociology major, so I may end up looking for an internship with a non-profit or something of that nature. Leave it on, or put it under the advice for “hobbies” and ditch it?
I don’t mind hobbies and interests if they’re included on resumes for college students or recent graduates. Once you’ve got several years of experience, keep them off the resume.
Personally, I hate long paragraphs with no breaks. Use bullets or multiple paragraphs to make it easier to read. A lot of us skim resumes, so make sure what you want employers to read is easy to spot.
Another personal pet peeve is redudancy: “developed this, developed that, developed yet another thing.” Instead, try saying “developed many new processes including this, that, and the other thing.”
Then there’s the excessive use of meaningless buzz words or trying to make everything sound too “corporate.” For example (and this is a real one) “challenged the existing association paradigms with an aim towards improved teaming and empowerment.” Just what the hell does that mean anyway?
We have one in our office now where someone has painstakingly listed a dozen or so bullet points for their job as a greeter/cashier at a department store- greeted customers and pointed them to the correct department, accepted return merchandise, folded inventory, that sort of thing- maybe OK (?) if you’re applying for a similar retail job, but not really pertinent for a wholly unrelated field.
Try to avoid mentioning jobs you had as a prisoner.
I have also heard you should never indicate anything bad about a previous or current employer. “Reason for leaving” should bever be anything like “because they were thieving bastards”.
What I am starting to find alarming is the number of hiring people who are posting things like “If it has X, it goes straight into the trash …”
Realizing that people get all kinds of conflicting advice about resumes and cover letters and variations in customs from one place to another, I should think that hirers would be a little more flexible.
From the other point of view, I am alarmed by some questions I have seen on application forms that I think should be verboten for employers to ask –
- Reason for leaving jobs
- Asking to contact current and former employers
- Asking whether one has ever initiated a lawsuit or has been a defendant in a lawsuit
There are more, but that’s what I can recall for now.
This must be a cultural thing, but the first two are absolutely standard questions here in the UK. As an employer I certainly want to know why someone has left a previous post - and I’m hardly likely to hold aspiring to a new position against them though I might question someone saying ‘got bored’ for each one!
As for contacting former employers, doesn’t anyone ask for references in the US?