You are not a guru or ninja, so just to just stop it already. It may have been cute a few years ago for the first five people who used these terms. The people that thought of them were creative, but when most people start adding these "buzzwords" to their LinkedIn profiles or resumes it gets annoying and truly does not add any value. It's not important, it's not creative, and it doesn't mean anything so just don't include it.
What are some buzzwords that you can't stand?
Showing posts with label resume don'ts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resume don'ts. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Dates on a Resume
Dates on a resume are very important and something that EVERY employer looks at. They want to see how much experience you have and if you have any gaps in employment. This is one of the reasons why I don't like functional resumes, they don't show what position you gained your skill at and how many years of experience you have.
Graduation dates:Unless you're straight out of college and starting your career, I would typically recommend leaving graduation years off. They're a clever way for employer's to guess your age, which they don't need to know. Another reason to include those dates would be to account for job hoping or a gap in employment while going to school.
Graduation dates:Unless you're straight out of college and starting your career, I would typically recommend leaving graduation years off. They're a clever way for employer's to guess your age, which they don't need to know. Another reason to include those dates would be to account for job hoping or a gap in employment while going to school.
"Degree - University Name, Year"
Employment dates:Include them, period. Months and years to and from preferably. This should be for each position you've had and need to be consistent throughout your resume. Don't use years for one job, and months/years for another, keep the formatting uniform.
Employment dates:Include them, period. Months and years to and from preferably. This should be for each position you've had and need to be consistent throughout your resume. Don't use years for one job, and months/years for another, keep the formatting uniform.
"Title: Company Name, Location. MM/YY - MM/YY"
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Shine and Graphical Resumes
While technology has grown at light speed over the past several years, resumes haven't changed much in the past several decades. They can be boring and plain, but when you try to make yours unique and interesting, it gets rejected. Graphical resumes and apps like Shine by Boluga, might look awesome, but they aren't generally accepted by recruiters and hiring managers.
If you are in graphic design or some kind of artist, you may be able to do a lot more than the average Administrative Assistant or Operations Manager. However, to the average person looking for an office job: do not use graphics. They take up room that can be used to show your skills and experience, and don't add anything of value to your resume. And please, for all that you consider holy, do not use multiple colors on a resume. It is distracting, tacky, and will be changed before it is ever seen by a hiring manager. Maybe the HR/Recruiting industry will catch up to technology one day, but they are slow to do so. For now, if you want to use graphics I would recommend one or two and sticking to black, maybe navy blue.
Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts are on graphical resumes or what ways you make your resume stand out :)
If you are in graphic design or some kind of artist, you may be able to do a lot more than the average Administrative Assistant or Operations Manager. However, to the average person looking for an office job: do not use graphics. They take up room that can be used to show your skills and experience, and don't add anything of value to your resume. And please, for all that you consider holy, do not use multiple colors on a resume. It is distracting, tacky, and will be changed before it is ever seen by a hiring manager. Maybe the HR/Recruiting industry will catch up to technology one day, but they are slow to do so. For now, if you want to use graphics I would recommend one or two and sticking to black, maybe navy blue.
Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts are on graphical resumes or what ways you make your resume stand out :)
Thursday, January 9, 2014
10 Commandments of Resumes
1. Thou shalt not Bold ALL
Bolding is great for headers like company and job title, but if everything is in bold, you're just yelling at me, and I don't appreciate it
2. Thou shalt not use multiple colors.
Annoying and tacky, don't do it
3. Thou shalt not use tables
4. Thou shalt not include a picture
Profiles, headshots, watermarks, anything, don't do it. It's tacky, unnecessary, and recruiters will laugh at you.
5. Thou shall restrain from stating the obvious
"References available upon request"; "looking to use my skills to benefit your company". two words: NO DUH
6. Thou shalt not use meaningless buzzwords
detail oriented, hard worker, team player... these phrases don't mean anything significant on their own and are on almost every resume. Instead, explain what you do to show these characteristics. Do you mentor new employees, manage several tasks, volunteer for ad hoc projects? Put these things on your resume instead.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness
Do not, under any circumstance, lie on your resume. It can, and eventually will be found out. Plus it's just bad karma
8. Thou shalt use bullet points
Paragraphs are hard to skim through and recruiters won't take the time to read through everything. Change your formatting to bullet points so your skills and accomplishments can shine
9. Thou shalt review thy resume for spelling and grammatical errors
The fastest way to be rejected is to have tons of spelling and grammatical errors on your resume. Your resume is your first impression with a company, and if you don't care enough to proofread it, you're probably not going to care enough to be accurate on the job, so I'll pass.
10. Thou shalt not spend hundreds of dollars on a resume writer
I got into the resume writing business because I found out that resume writers charge $200-$700 per resume. I find it outrageous to charge people who are looking for jobs such high prices. I charge anywhere from $89-250 to create or revise a resume and do not charge extra for additional corrections or revisions. If you're looking for help with your resume please comment below or email me at info@insiderecruiter.com
Do you have other resume commandments or completely disagree with one of mine? Let me know in the comments!
Bolding is great for headers like company and job title, but if everything is in bold, you're just yelling at me, and I don't appreciate it
2. Thou shalt not use multiple colors.
Annoying and tacky, don't do it
3. Thou shalt not use tables
Tables
|
A lot of templates come in tables, they're nearly
impossible to edit or change formatting and usually waste a ton of free space on a
resume
|
They frustrate recruiters to no end.
|
4. Thou shalt not include a picture
Profiles, headshots, watermarks, anything, don't do it. It's tacky, unnecessary, and recruiters will laugh at you.
5. Thou shall restrain from stating the obvious
"References available upon request"; "looking to use my skills to benefit your company". two words: NO DUH
6. Thou shalt not use meaningless buzzwords
detail oriented, hard worker, team player... these phrases don't mean anything significant on their own and are on almost every resume. Instead, explain what you do to show these characteristics. Do you mentor new employees, manage several tasks, volunteer for ad hoc projects? Put these things on your resume instead.
7. Thou shalt not bear false witness
Do not, under any circumstance, lie on your resume. It can, and eventually will be found out. Plus it's just bad karma
8. Thou shalt use bullet points
Paragraphs are hard to skim through and recruiters won't take the time to read through everything. Change your formatting to bullet points so your skills and accomplishments can shine
9. Thou shalt review thy resume for spelling and grammatical errors
The fastest way to be rejected is to have tons of spelling and grammatical errors on your resume. Your resume is your first impression with a company, and if you don't care enough to proofread it, you're probably not going to care enough to be accurate on the job, so I'll pass.
10. Thou shalt not spend hundreds of dollars on a resume writer
I got into the resume writing business because I found out that resume writers charge $200-$700 per resume. I find it outrageous to charge people who are looking for jobs such high prices. I charge anywhere from $89-250 to create or revise a resume and do not charge extra for additional corrections or revisions. If you're looking for help with your resume please comment below or email me at info@insiderecruiter.com
Do you have other resume commandments or completely disagree with one of mine? Let me know in the comments!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Resumes 101 - What to Include and What to Leave Out
Resumes are meant to give a brief overview of your experience and skills and to highlight your accomplishments. Resumes have four basic sections: summary, skills, experience, and education. Resume objectives are outdated and pointless, so leave them off and replace them with summary of what you bring to the table. There are several thing that should be left off your resume, which I list in this post; and your resume experience should be in chronological order with you current or most recent job listed at the top of the page and your oldest experience listed last.
When you get into your experience you can do several things. I recommend to list any awards you've received first, followed by your most important responsibilities like supervising other employees or growing the company's revenue. Then, you should list your other important responsibilities, BUT this should only be 5-10 bullet points at most. Your resume is not meant to be a job description or list of every single thing you do at your job - just the highlights. You can explain your other responsibilities in a phone screen or interview if needed. If you're struggling to find things to include on your resume, view this post.
Resumes can feel strange to write because people aren't used to thinking about their strengths and how to market themselves to companies. However, if you can get over this and be confident in your abilities, you can create a resume with really strong content. Once you have the content done, it's about formatting and making the resume easy to read and visually appealing. Bold font for companies and job titles is great, along with italics for awards or promotions, but the majority of your resume should be in plain text and all the same font. It's important to stay away from long paragraphs which are difficult for recruiters to skim, and instead list skills and experience in bullet points, which are much easier to read.
When you get into your experience you can do several things. I recommend to list any awards you've received first, followed by your most important responsibilities like supervising other employees or growing the company's revenue. Then, you should list your other important responsibilities, BUT this should only be 5-10 bullet points at most. Your resume is not meant to be a job description or list of every single thing you do at your job - just the highlights. You can explain your other responsibilities in a phone screen or interview if needed. If you're struggling to find things to include on your resume, view this post.
Resumes can feel strange to write because people aren't used to thinking about their strengths and how to market themselves to companies. However, if you can get over this and be confident in your abilities, you can create a resume with really strong content. Once you have the content done, it's about formatting and making the resume easy to read and visually appealing. Bold font for companies and job titles is great, along with italics for awards or promotions, but the majority of your resume should be in plain text and all the same font. It's important to stay away from long paragraphs which are difficult for recruiters to skim, and instead list skills and experience in bullet points, which are much easier to read.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
End of Summer Sale!
Hi Everyone! I'm having an end of summer sale now through September 30th. Prices for all services start at $30 and you can get an additional 20% off if you refer a friend!
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- LinkedIn Profile
- Interview Prep
Email me at insiderecruiter629@gmail.com or call 213-290-3142 to get started! :)
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Do Resumes Really Have to be One Page?
The answer is no, resumes do not have to be limited to one page. However, it depends on how much experience you have. If you're entry level, or have only had a couple jobs, then yes, your resume should be one page. However, if you've been working for several years and have enough content in your resume to warrant two pages, then go for it. Recruiters aren't going to toss your resume because it's two pages.
That being said, not much time will be spent screening the second page, so make sure your main highlights and most recent experience are on the first page. Also, (this is going to sound nitpicky) if the second page is only a couple lines, rearrange things so it fits on one page.
There are some very easy ways to cut a few lines off your resume:
That being said, not much time will be spent screening the second page, so make sure your main highlights and most recent experience are on the first page. Also, (this is going to sound nitpicky) if the second page is only a couple lines, rearrange things so it fits on one page.
There are some very easy ways to cut a few lines off your resume:
- Combine your phone number and email onto one line using a symbol or " | " to separate them
- Remove your full address, just leaving city and zip code
- Combine similar skills and/or responsibilities into one bullet point
- Don't include the full address or phone number of previous employers, you can put that on the application
- Include your job title on the same line as the company name
- Remove really old jobs (This is a judgement call, but it's ok to remove that fast-food job you had right after high school)
- Remove the references section, I say this all the time, it's unnecessary
- Reduce the font to 11 pt (Don't go any smaller than this)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Applying for a Job: How to Stand Out On Paper
You have your resume and cover letter written and free of spelling and grammar mistakes, now what? There are many things you should do to ensure you stand out compared to other applicants.
First, make sure you are specific about your skills and experience, and don't just include buzzwords on your resume. If the content is on your resume, you should really look at the tone of your writing. Read your resume and cover letter out loud. Does it sound like you? Are those words and phrases you would normally say? If not, make some changes; you want your personality to shine through.
I am NOT suggesting to be unprofessional or crack jokes, but you don't want to sound like you're a robot or used a thesaurus for 80% of your resume. This is one of the many reasons why I don't like the Objective Statement of a resume, because it doesn't sound like something a person would ever say in a normal conversation. The point of a resume is to get a recruiter to call you, so make sure your resume is professional and full of content, however it is also beneficial to ensure you are not exceedingly verbose (see what I did there?).
What do you do to stand out in your resume or cover letter? Let me know in the comments! :)
What do you do to stand out in your resume or cover letter? Let me know in the comments! :)
Monday, May 20, 2013
Delete This From Your Resume Right Now!
This is not for international job-seekers since I'm not quite sure what the norms are internationally. But for everyone in the U.S. if you have any of the following items on your resume, delete them now and make sure all your job board resumes are updated. There are a lot of things that are subjective on a resume, these are not.
Never ever ever ever ever EVER include these things on a resume:
Identification Info (Are you asking to get your identity stolen? If the company needs this info, they'll ask you on an application or after an offer letter)
-Social Security Numbers, Date of Birth
Personal Info (Are you asking to be discriminated against? At this point in the interview process, there's really no way you can prove discrimination, and I guarantee you employers don't need this info)
-Age, Race, Sexuality, Religion
Irrelevant Info (Unless you're interested in music and applying for a position that has to deal with music, I don't care. I don't care that you scrapbook or play basketball or have 3 kids. My job is to show the hiring manager why you're a great fit and this information does not help me)
-Hobbies, Interests, Kids
Profile
Let me be clear, a profile section on your resume is a good thing depending on the content. If you use it as a summary of your skills and qualifications, then great, that's exactly what I need. However, if you use this as a section to tell me about your childhood, how you grew up, and how married life is treating you, DON'T. Again, your resume should only include relevant information about what qualifies you for a job.
Never ever ever ever ever EVER include these things on a resume:
Identification Info (Are you asking to get your identity stolen? If the company needs this info, they'll ask you on an application or after an offer letter)
-Social Security Numbers, Date of Birth
Personal Info (Are you asking to be discriminated against? At this point in the interview process, there's really no way you can prove discrimination, and I guarantee you employers don't need this info)
-Age, Race, Sexuality, Religion
Irrelevant Info (Unless you're interested in music and applying for a position that has to deal with music, I don't care. I don't care that you scrapbook or play basketball or have 3 kids. My job is to show the hiring manager why you're a great fit and this information does not help me)
-Hobbies, Interests, Kids
Profile
Let me be clear, a profile section on your resume is a good thing depending on the content. If you use it as a summary of your skills and qualifications, then great, that's exactly what I need. However, if you use this as a section to tell me about your childhood, how you grew up, and how married life is treating you, DON'T. Again, your resume should only include relevant information about what qualifies you for a job.
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