Things that should be left OFF your resume

volgirl2376 · #1 06-23-2002, 12:24 AM

So I am going through the process of hiring new employees for my department and after two weeks of getting resumes and interviewing people, I felt like I needed to post this for all the college ladies and gentleman out there who are preparing resumes to send to potential employers. The examples below are taken from resumes I have actually gotten.

DO: List the classes you are taking or have taken or any "real life" projects you have been involved in that have some relevance to the job you are applying for. Some places do what experience, but a lot of places (like me) will train you on the job.

DO NOT list every job you have ever had on your resume (especially if it has nothing to do with the job you are applying for). I have a web designer position I am looking to fill, and I would rather you say "I have taken these classes in school and I am very eager to learn" then list that you were a lifeguard at your country club pool (where you were named head life guard after only 3 summers) or that you worked at A&F "assisting customers with clothing purchases and suggesting appropriate accessories".

DO keep the mention of extracircular activites to a minimum. As an employer, its not something that really matters in a resume....but perhaps in a face to face interview or sometime down the road.

Don't take up 3/4 on page 1 of your resume (I kid you not) discussing your Greek activities. Although it may seem important in college that you were Pledge President of XYZ fraternity, Rush Chair, Mr March in the ABC sororitys calendar and played a huge part in Greek Week, its not exactly crucial information that a potential employer would need to know. Being active is cool, but it shouldnt be a filler.

queequek · #2 06-23-2002, 01:26 AM

I've been told these:

DON'T put any affiliations with your religion. It is great to know that you're a teacher of the Lutheran Sunday school, the president of the Islam seminar in your college, or missionary of the LDS church to Russia for three months, but keep them off. Employer could find it offensive and have prejudice against you.

DO keep your resume one page (if possible), or as brief as you can. Reference can be just stated, "available upon request".

(for design majors) DO show your ability of computer drafting, such as a nice Illustrator design or Photoshop background, or some sketches up in the corner of the resume, and state your computer skills.

aephi alum · #3 06-23-2002, 08:13 AM

Any suggestions for those of us who have been out in the work force for a few years?

volgirl2376 · #4 06-23-2002, 09:54 AM

aephi alum,

keep your resume fresh. anytime you are assigned a new "duty", put it on your resume. if you like the company you are with but not so much the poistion you are in, keep your eyes and ears open.

also, i got the resume of a gentleman who was in his 40s who had recently decided on a career change. he went back to college and got a degree. he came into the interview very energetic with such a positive attitude. even though we both knew he was over qualified, he let me know right away that he had no problem starting off at the bottom with my company and i knew that with his attitude, he would move up to something in his field quickly and i would love to give him a foot in the door.

personality DOES count. during an interview, a major thing i look at is their personality and if they would make a good fit with our department. if they are eager to work, and flexible with time, if they are personable.

firm handshakes DO make a great impresssion.

DONT list ministers or family members as references. these people cant really give objective but DO list people you have worked with (not just worked who you have worked for).

damasa · #5 06-23-2002, 11:41 AM

I definitely agree with only mentioning things that could be relevant to the position that you are applying for.

Yet, a resume is to basically get your foot in the door, put what is important to that position to get your foot in that door. Once in, it is totally up to you because a good personality and a good impression does count, A LOT.

My current resume is only 3/4 of a page long including my references. That's because I have basically worked in the same industry my entire (yet short) working life. It is all applicable to the positions I have applied for.

Blaine

CutiePie2000 · #6 06-23-2002, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by queequek
I've been told these:
DON'T put any affiliations with your religion. It is great to know that you're a teacher of the Lutheran Sunday school, the president of the Islam seminar in your college, or missionary of the LDS church to Russia for three months, but keep them off. Employer could find it offensive and have prejudice against you.

Along with that, I would also say don't list political affilations like "Telephoned and did polls for the ____ Party".
Similarly, don't state things where you volunteered for things like Greenpeace or Pro-Choice or Pro-Life....way too politically volatile. It's just too dicey to go there on your resume.

valkyrie · #7 06-23-2002, 01:29 PM

About references -- it has always been my understanding that you don't need to put "references available upon request" on a resume because, duh, references are always available upon request. If a potential employer wants references, she will ask for them.

I'm sure everybody knows this, but just in case, make sure your references know that you're listing them as references, and make sure that, to the best of your knowledge, they are going to say good things about you. I have had friends who have been (1) caught off guard by being called as a reference when they had no idea that they would be, and (2) irritated when people they don't particularly like and have never worked with have listed them as references.

And yes, especially if you are in or recently out of college, a resume should NEVER be more than one page.

volgirl2376 · #8 06-23-2002, 01:41 PM

excellent point valkyrie!

the main reason i posted this on greek chat was because i was just dumbfounded (along with my boss and everyone looking over these resumes) that i got one from a recent college grad who took up 3/4 of page 1 of his resume with every single activity he participated in with his fraternity that included favorite parties and every office he held in 4 yrs. to me this isnt something you put on a professional resume.

on a side note he was applying for a job as a graphic designer. he listed "intermediate spanish and humanities" as relative courses and listed his past employment of a phone salesman for olan mills, a saleman at a&f, and a lifeguard.

if you know you have no experience and you arent taking any classes that are even in the ball park of the job you are applying for (especially a technical one in a big company)...dont.

navane · #9 06-24-2002, 05:50 AM

Hrm...I don't understand the "never more than one page" rule. Who came up with that rule anyway? I completely understand the concept of trying to make it so your resume catches the reader's eye in a short amount of time; but, come on! I've been able to keep my resume at one page for 7 years. But now, with my most recent job behind me, it had to go to 2.

All of the jobs listed are very relevant. No dorky jobs here, all are related to my career field. I refuse to take my first job off of the bottom simply to "make room." No. No. and No.

So, what happened is the Activities and References line ended up all alone on the second page. To beef up that 2nd page, so it doesn't look so sparse, I added a section briefly stating my research interests and another listing my professional association memberships.

That move worked out for me really well because I work in Higher Education where that sort of thing is not uncommon. Has anyone ever seen a resume for an Academic (professors..researchers..etc)? Those suckers read like phone books!

It pays to be descriptive in higher education.

Also, though it contains a fair bit of information, my layout still gives the appearance of having a lot of "white space." That makes it easy to read.

My boyfriend is a computer engineer guy. His resume is mega-long even though he's only worked for one company. I guess that people working in computers are obligated to list every last programming language he or she knows lest they not get the job because they didn't put "4 years experience in programming SQL mega-parameter hypernetworking Novell systems in D-plus XV-1 environments."

Anyway, I am very pleased with my resume. It must be pretty good because I have a very high success rate with being called for interviews. I think people need to keep in mind that one's career field may dictate how a resume should be presented. In my case, it appears to be perfectly OK to have a resume that is more than one page.

And, as someone who has studied HR, I agree that it is never a good idea to take up 3/4 of a page talking about your fraternity activities.

......Kelly

navane · #10 06-24-2002, 05:59 AM

Oh yeah. I also have a little tip. A couple of the things on my resume were long-term internships. Of course, free doesn't pay rent.

So, yeah, I did have a bunch of lame part-time jobs. NONE of those part-time jobs are on my resume. Instead, I listed my internships along with my education related employment. That makes it look as if I have loads of experience. If asked, I am honest and tell the interviewer that it was an internship. In my experience, I noticed that they never cared that it was an internship; they only cared to know that I have career-related experience. With that said, if you can do something like that, it will be worth your while.

......Kelly

DWAlphaGam · #11 06-24-2002, 10:22 AM

My department is also hiring right now, and some of the resumes that we've gotten have been absolutely atrocious. I definitely agree with the advice given on this post, and I would like to add a few more:

Get an email account that sounds professional. For example, janesmith@hotmail.com sounds a lot better than janey-waney@hotmail.com. (Yes, we really did have someone apply whose e-mail address was like that.) It's so easy to do and it will help employers take you more seriously.

Use normal font. We got a resume that was in Stonehenge font, which is hard enough to read, but it was also faxed, so it was damn near impossible to read it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use spell check and grammar check. Also, have someone who you believe is a decent writer check your resume and cover letter before you send it. It's so distracting to try to read a resume when it is grammatically incorrect.

APhi · #12 06-24-2002, 02:02 PM

That's funny volgirl and dwalphagam... These are the people who say things like "The job market is so awful. I've sent out like 100 resumes and haven't gotten a single call!"

Honeykiss1974 · #13 06-24-2002, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DWAlphaGam

Get an email account that sounds professional. For example, janesmith@hotmail.com sounds a lot better than janey-waney@hotmail.com. (Yes, we really did have someone apply whose e-mail address was like that.) It's so easy to do and it will help employers take you more seriously.

I'm glad you brought this up. My friend was going to put her email address on her resume. Her email address is:

SEXYLADY69@HOTMAIL.COM :EEK:

I still shudder at the though of that!

I personally have two email address: 1 for "business purposes" (i.e. resume, contacts, etc.) and then of course to goof around with.

juniorgrrl · #14 06-26-2002, 02:52 AM

My boyfriend is working on his resume right now, he's applyhing for jobs as an electrical engineer. A neighbor of mine that's a rocket scientist gave him a sample resume to work off - it was 3 pages!

So josh worked hard to get this lengthy description of stuff, burying his degree and certification deep into the thing and then showed it to me. In all of my business education, I was told "unless you're going to be a professor, keep it to 1 page, especially if you've just graduated!"

What is everyone's philosophy on all this? I feel like a 3 page resume will get put in the round file pretty damn fast when they figure out that none of the jobs listed are in engineering - they were summer internships where he worked as a code monkey. Or as a survey boy.

volgirl2376 · #15 06-26-2002, 09:30 AM

I personally dont mind getting a resume more than 1 page. I think if you have stuff to say, and it takes more, then that is just more I get to read about you and your experience.

That is excellent advice about the email address. I had two like that from stacked_shit@hotmail.com and candypanties@aol.com

I do have a question for everyone reading this post - do you list all your fraternity/sorority activites, offices etc? I got in another resume yesterday from a girl who listed stuff like this on her entire first page. It listed stuff like Rush Chair and XYZ sweetheart and under interests she put the various socials that she enjoyed going to. I could totally see listing your fraternity/sorority 's name under interests or hobbies or affiliations etc etc...but is anyone else putting the in depth stuff on their resumes? It made a very bad impression with some folks here...I guess since she listed all these parties, they were wondering when she would have time to actually work.

Thoughts?