Things that should be left OFF your resume

[Taualumna]

Question: What should one do about volunteer work for an organization that some may view as being "snobby"? Same with political campaigns. For me, half of my "office experience" comes from political campaigns. Right now, the only campaign going on in Ontario is for a specific party, so people'll figure it out even if I remain discrete.

[radioZTA]

I like this thread!

I was laid off at the beginning of the year and it has been very interesting having to send out resumes again. I changed a few things this time around and it seems to work well.

Instead of listing every single thing that I've done in my work life, my work experience and contact info is on the first page. I only hit the highlights and change those as needed depending on the position that I'm applying for. The next page lists education, hobbies/memberships and awards/honors.

And while a "Hobbies" section generally isn't recommended, I customize that to show a little bit of my personality depending on the job that I'm applying for. If it is for a more conservative company or position, I minimize my "Hobbies" to Golf and Civic Volunteer and emphasize my memberships in industry-related orgs and the broadcast conferences where I've been a guest speaker.

In my industry, a college degree isn't that important or necessary although it doesn't hurt. Under the "Education" section, after my college and degree info, I note that I was on the Dean's list for 4 semesters. I had a couple of BAD semesters so my overall GPA wasn't as high as I would have liked and I don't want to list it. So far no one has asked for specifics.

For all my ZTA activities, there is only one listing on my resume and that is under awards/honors. As well as listing my various "Salesperson of the Month" and "Employee of the Month" honors, which are important, I also list "Zeta Tau Alpha National Certificate of Merit". I am very proud of that. I've had only one lady bring it up. She was not in a sorority but was familiar with ZTA because of the Race for the Cure. It gave me a chance to talk about the leadership development opportunities I have been given which was relevant to the position as a manager.

On a side note...I also keep a personal resume that is a listing of all my church, community, children's school and ZTA volunteer activities, awards and honors. Line by line it is much longer than my work resume and means more to me. I started this because our alumnae chapter presidents asked us every year to give a list of the things that we do inside and outside of Zeta. I recommended this to others and it has been very helpful. It lets us know who is eligible for awards within Zeta and also helps us focus some of our philanthropic activities towards things our members are interested in. I have not given this resume to a prospective employer but a couple of my past employers have seen it when we were discussing promotions and/or raises for me.

I find out today if I get a new job! I am very excited and hopeful about it. Wish me luck!

[GeekyPenguin]

I've been applying for some internships and they've all asked my ACT score and my LSAT score...if it's good, put it on there.

[DWAlphaGam]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Question: What should one do about volunteer work for an organization that some may view as being "snobby"? Same with political campaigns. For me, half of my "office experience" comes from political campaigns. Right now, the only campaign going on in Ontario is for a specific party, so people'll figure it out even if I remain discrete.

If someone doesn't hire you because they don't agree with your political viewpoints, that is discrimination and they could get in a lot of trouble (at least in the U.S.; I would imagine there are similar laws in Canada). It's not like you're going to start political arguments in the middle of the office (at least, I hope not ), and they should hire you based on your work experience and skills.

[sageofages]

Originally posted by DWAlphaGam
If someone doesn't hire you because they don't agree with your political viewpoints, that is discrimination and they could get in a lot of trouble (at least in the U.S.; I would imagine there are similar laws in Canada). It's not like you're going to start political arguments in the middle of the office (at least, I hope not ), and they should hire you based on your work experience and skills.

PROVE that they didn't hire you because of your political leanings.
When resumes are gleaned, the decision of the screener is fairly subjective and often times arbitrary for why one is selected and the other isn't.

Better to leave it off.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by sageofages
PROVE that they didn't hire you because of your political leanings.
When resumes are gleaned, the decision of the screener is fairly subjective and often times arbitrary for why one is selected and the other isn't.

Better to leave it off.

Right, but if I leave it off, it would look like I've never really worked a day in my life.

[kateshort]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Question: What should one do about volunteer work for an organization that some may view as being "snobby"? Same with political campaigns. For me, half of my "office experience" comes from political campaigns. Right now, the only campaign going on in Ontario is for a specific party, so people'll figure it out even if I remain discrete.

That's a toughie. Hrm. Maybe list the types of things you did under skills, like:

* Telephone poll operator-- canvassed households by telephone to do regional research; used PBX7200 phone system

* Proficient in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, familiar with Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

* Skilled at filing documents

That's kind of cheesy, but it's a start...

I'd take someone who volunteered for a cause I didn't agree with, as long as in the interview they didn't seem to champion it every single second. But that's me. -shrug- How important is it that you look like you've worked? If it's a job that requires "experience", then maybe it's better to add it, even if some might think it's snobby or against their personal beliefs; most offices actually like a little diversity. What might get you tossed from some interviews will get you the other interviews.


General side comment: If you do get an interview, remember to bring your references with you! I always like having references on/with a resume, because then it can give some clue as to what kind of people this person works with and who they choose to list as a reference. [Someone we interviewed had bounced around in a number of schools, but she'd listed all of her former employers-- that was a better sign to me than listing none of them.]

[ambición6]

Ok, so if your GPA is below a 3.0, then don't list it?

I went recruiting last week for my company and we were looking only for applicants with a 3.0 and above since thats the min for the training program we were recruiting for,

But what if you are applying for a position that does not have a min GPA requirement, I would think the recruiter would see no GPA and automatically assume it's very bad/low when it could be a 2.7, 2.8 etc. even though you have tons of job experience.

touchy decision for the recently graduated.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by ambición6
Ok, so if your GPA is below a 3.0, then don't list it?

I went recruiting last week for my company and we were looking only for applicants with a 3.0 and above since thats the min for the training program we were recruiting for,

But what if you are applying for a position that does not have a min GPA requirement, I would think the recruiter would see no GPA and automatically assume it's very bad/low when it could be a 2.7, 2.8 etc. even though you have tons of job experience.

touchy decision for the recently graduated.

I wouldn't list it. If you're that worried about it, don't list it and discuss it if the employer brings it up.

-Rudey

[Munchkin03]

I've never listed my GPA. But, since I graduated with honors, most people assume I'm not an eeediot.

[valkyrie]

I list my law school GPA because it's HOTTT...even though I've been out for a few years and I don't do anything law related. It's just sexy.

[DWAlphaGam]

Here's a tip that seems like it should be obvious, but apparently isn't: Don't tell your life story in your cover letter or resume. Here are 2 examples that I've had recently (position is for a medical writer):

1. The applicant started her cover letter by saying something like, "Although I do not have any professional experience with medicine, I do have personal experience with it because I have [insert bad gastrointestinal disease]." (I forget the specific disease she had.) She then went on for the entire 1 1/2-page letter describing the disease and her experience with it in excruciating detail. It was TMI to the extreme.

2. The applicant wrote a 2 1/2 page cover letter, rambling on and on about how her parents discouraged her from being an English major because writers don't make any money, and said something along the lines of "I don't want to go into the business world and be miserable like my brother is because he hates his job even though he makes a lot of money." It's ok to say how much you like the profession in your cover letter, but (1) keep it to 1 paragraph or less, and have concrete examples, and (2) no one cares about your brother and how miserable he is.

So, just remember, you are not writing a letter to a friend, you are writing it to a potential employer. Be professional (and succinct)!

[CarolinaDG]

This whole thread is irritating to me, because I had a career center TELL me to leave everything on, and keep it to 2 pages.

Oh, so many questions, oh so little time.

First off, I'm a music major with a business minor, and normally people see that and automatically throw my resume away. BUT, I've taken almost enough Economics classes to declare that as a second degree. So, I'm just frustrated that they don't even take enough time to find that out. Anyway, so I'm trying to get a job in the fundraising department of an arts organization (ANY arts organization, at this point)... Do I list all of my economic classes?

SECONDLY, I'm very upset about the whole, leaving things off thing, because I WANT people to know I busted my ASS in college. If they don't want that on a resume, what's the point of me doing it in the first place? Do I just leave it all of and list the $50,000 I raised for CMN and only have one thing on my resume (since that's related to fundraising)? Or do I list my volunteer activities and how many public relations campaigns I have organized and how many executive boards I've been on and how many other volunteer activities I have done?


ETA: One more thing. I have designed three different websites for different organizations, so even though I'm looking for a job in fundraising, I would be perfectly willing to design another website. Can I not put this on because it's unrelated? And what if the company saw someone being able to design a website as a perk? And what about my public relations experience? Can someone please just read my resume and tell me what to DO?!

[CarolinaDG]

Originally posted by seraphimsprite
I'm bumping this thread because we have an entry level opening in our office and I can't believe some of the things I've seen on resumes. (This is directed at recent college grads - someone applying

- Do NOT put your SAT scores on your resume. Potential employers don't care if you got a 1000 or a 1600. (I've seen this on three resumes already!)

- Same thing goes for GPAs in most cases. Put down that you graduated with honors, cum laude or any awards, but if you graduated with a 3.2 we don't care.

- Don't write lengthy paragraphs about your job experiences. Summarize your accomplishments in bullet points.

- Unless you have years and years of experience, keep the resume to one page. If that means cutting your "interests" off your resume, fine. The only things you really need on your resume are experience, skills and education. Only list interests, or activities if you have something particularly interesting or remarkable to talk about.

- Don't feel pressured to include an "awards" section. If you've received several great awards, list them, especially if they're relevant to the position you're applying for. But we don't care that you were "Student of the Year" in eleventh grade or that you won the "Excellence in Music Performance" award in your high school choir. (Both true examples)

- PROOFREAD!

I keep being alittle bugged about the incessant use of "3.2" as the GPA (mainly because that's mine). Can we lower it to 3.1? 3.15? Just kidding, but seriously, if you don't care, shouldn't it be there just in case? Like, you aren't going to throw our resume' out the window for ONLY having a 3.2, but there may be an employer (as was earlier noted) who thinks if you don't have your GPA on there, than not only is it not noteworthy, but it's not even remotely good (the "I just squeeked by" people). Also, my major GPA was considerably higher (granted, it was in music) but should we include this as well (I probably won't because... well, it's in music and people just think we "sing all day")?

[Lady Pi Phi]

This is a very interesting thread. But I really don't know how valuable it is. Resume writing is so subjective.
One person says leave your GPA off, another will say include it. I have been given a million and one different tips on how to write a resume, it's hard to know which one is correct. I have never ever been asked what my GPA was, or even what kind of classs I took in an interview. Now all I can assume is that particular employer didn't care. It's true some might, but I can't be a mind reader.
Things also might be a little different up hear, but employers don't care what your degree is in, they just want you to have one.