|
Over the last 25 years there have been many myths related to resumes. It is hard to know how some of these myths came about, but it appears that a large percentage of resume writers believe in them. This is part one of two revealing the top 12 reality myths. Resume Myth #1 – “An excellent resume will get you the job.” Never! The only reason you need a resume is to assist in getting an interview. The interview (or multiple interviews) will decide if you get the job. Resume Myth #2 – “Resumes can only be one page long.” Your resume should be long enough to cover your experience, education and accomplishments. Typical resumes are two pages long. Almost all resumes are put into databases which are searched by keywords. Systems don’t care how long resumes are. Resume Myth #3 – “Resumes should contain ALL of your experience.” If you have 20 or 30 years of experience, you should only cover the last 10 to 12 years on your resume. Experience beyond that will probably be irrelevant anyway. Resume Myth #4 – “Resumes should have an ‘Objective Section’.” This is actually a trick question. It is important to have an ‘Objective’ but it must provide pertinent information. You don’t want to have an objective that says... "Seeking position with progressive company that will recognize my positive attributes and provide me with a successful career path.” A typical recruiter will take 7-10 seconds to scan each resume and this objective says nothing. You need to give an objective with real information such as this: “IT Manager with 10 years experience seeking position with small to medium sized company in the Los Angeles, CA area. Available within two weeks of acceptance. Will travel up to 30%.” This short paragraph gives the recruiter all of the information they typically need in order to continue to review the resume. Resume Myth #5 – “Only include degrees in your education section.” If you have three years into a degree and are still working to complete it, say so in your resume. Some organizations will provide special training classes in management or applications. These need to be added to your resume. Resume Myth #6 – “It is best to include hobbies and interests as part of your resume.” Resumes should cover your professional experience, education and accomplishments. Don’t take up valuable space for personal information. Recruiters and HR people only want to know about your professional side. Resume Myth #7 - “Don’t worry about a few minor spelling or grammar errors.” Some say that hiring managers expect errors on resumes and that just shows that you are human. WRONG! The only purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. If you don’t put your best foot forward on you own resume, when will you? Make sure your resume is accurate and free of all spelling and grammar problems. Jim Stedt is a partner at The Business SoftSkills Company (GetSoftSkillsNow.Com) located in Santa Ana, California. They provide job readiness and workforce success videos for education, business, prisons and individual use. Training is available online, on DVD, or through an affiliate program. These products are the most complete and concise soft skills training packages now available for the price of an average college textbook.
Related Articles -
Resume, CV, job search,
| 
