Congrats and Update

First, congratulations to our recent group of candidates having received and accepted terrific offers! Among the most recent, I want to say "great interviewing and selling yourself" to Greg, who landed a Product Development Engineer position, and to David, who secured a Lean Manufacturing Coordinator position. Both candidates worked diligently to obtain a career advancement move and were successful in accomplishing their job search goals.

Second, my apologies for not posting frequently and keeping up to date with new resource tidbits on the blog. I have experienced a number of family medical emergencies, and am spending a fair amount of time in hospitals these days. The blog may suffer a bit as I make my family first priority, and candidates my next priority.

Is Your Resume “Irksome”?

Continuing to add resources and insight on resume writing to this blog, I’m highlighting AOL Jobs recent article “10 Ways Your Resume Irks Hiring Managers”. I can relate to all 10 points, but these are the ones I strongly agree with:

3. Personal attributes. Listing personal information such as height, weight and age and providing photographs is a pet peeve for Heather Mayfield, vice president of training and operations for Snelling Staffing Services. "It is amazing that we still see this on the resumes of today, but they are out there."

I cannot believe how many resumes with personal attributes we see here at PRI, even amongst our engineering and plant management professionals. About 10 years ago, when I was hiring for marketing and IT staff, photographs on resumes seemed to be a very popular thing – but they are simply not appropriate today – no matter what job you are seeking!

7. Outdated information. Leave off the activities that you did in high school if graduation was a few years ago and omit jobs you held 10 or more years ago, as the information is probably irrelevant to the position you're trying for now.

Three cheers on this one! If you have anything from high school, and even most activities in college on your resume, take it off. Regarding jobs you held more then 10 years ago, you may be requested to provide that information for a complete work history, but you don’t have to start off with your resume showing that. Special irks of mine in the “old job” category include the summer jobs held during high school – like video store clerk, cutting lawns, etc. We’ve had resumes come in stating that their sibling won a pie eating contest, and another that listed winning a local welding contest (more than 15 years ago!). Not so relevant for a senior professional several years into their management career.

8. False information. "Putting that you have a B.S. on a resume when you do not have one is BS,'" jokes Stephen Viscusi, author of 'On the Job: How to Make it in the Real World of Work." Not only is lying on a resume unfair and dishonest, it's also not very intelligent. "Companies verify dates of employment -- often after you start. If you have lied, they fire you...Nobody wants to hire a liar. Nobody."

I couldn’t agree more on the false information point. False information on your resume is a fast track for ruining your search or the dream job you recently landed – once the untruth is discovered. And, in my experience, it usually is discovered, often in the interview process.

Read the article, then your resume. I think many hiring managers would agree to these points to some degree. Get rid of the “irks”.

Comments? Opinions? Something to add to the list? We would like to hear your thoughts.