Resume Mistakes: Information You Should Never Include

When you are searching for a job, your resume is the most imortant document in your
ossession, and avoiding resume mistakes can mean the difference bet!een your resume
landing in the trash or on to of the "call#for#an#intervie!$ ile%
While you robably have a good idea of !hat information to include, you might not be
a!are of information you should not include% Including this information is an easily
avoidable resume mistake% &he follo!ing information needs to stay off your resume%
'etails about your aearance
Irrelevant e(eriences
Non#achievement achievements
)dd hobbies
*rivate details
Sensitive ersonal details
+nrealistic objective statements
'etails about your aearance and !hy they are a resume mistake
*rosective emloyers care about !hat you can do, not !hat you look like% &outing your
muscular hysi,ue or shaely curves is not likely to land you an intervie!% )n the same
note, never include a icture !ith your resume unless you are a model or actor% -void this
resume mistake by keeing statements about your aearance off your resume%
Irrelevant e(eriences and !hy they are a resume mistake
Not every job you have !orked is relevant to every osition for !hich you aly% In fact,
some revious !ork e(erience may not be relevant to any future rosects% .or e(amle,
if you !orked during the school year dressing u as the school mascot, that e(erience is
likely irrelevant to any future job you may seek unless the osition is similar% Remember
that the goal of a resume is to sho! ho! your skills and e(eriences translate into making
you a good rosect for a secific osition% -void this resume mistake by only including
!hat is relevant to each osition for !hich you submit a resume%
Non#achievement achievements and !hy they are a resume mistake
-chievements are considered something you earn in a rofessional sense% /ommunity
a!ards for contributions or achievements also fall under this category% 0o!ever, non#
achievement achievements have no lace on your resume% Non#achievements include
things like !inning a gu11ling contest, being a member of a sorority or fraternity or being
named rom ,ueen% -void this resume mistake by keeing your achievements as
something you earned in either a rofessional setting or through community involvement%
)dd hobbies and !hy they are a resume mistake
While listing a fe! of your hobbies is accetable to include on some resumes, stick !ith
hobbies to !hich most eole could relate% 2isting strange or odd hobbies is likely to get
you a fe! laughs or raised eyebro!s, but unlikely to get you an intervie!% .or e(amle, if
your hobbies include mooing or beetle fighting, it is best to leave those off your resume%
-void this resume mistake by sticking !ith generic hobbies, such as laying basketball,
boating, skiing or scrabooking%
*rivate details and !hy they are a resume mistake
*rivate details about your life, such as your olitical or religious affiliation, have the
otential to be controversial deending on the vie!s of the comany to !hich you aly
or the erson !ho is revie!ing your resume% 2ike!ise, including information about your
se(ual orientation or !hether you have children is a bad idea% -void this resume mistake
by omitting rivate details about your life that have the otential to influence a resume
revie!er3s oinion of you%
Sensitive ersonal details and !hy they are a resume mistake
While sharing information about your ast e(eriences, your skills and your
accomlishments is vital to landing a job intervie!, sharing sensitive ersonal details is
not% When you submit a resume for revie!, you have no guarantee or idea of ho! the
information contained on it is rotected% -void this resume mistake by keeing your
social security number and other sensitive ersonal details off your resume%
+nrealistic objective statements and !hy they are a resume mistake
While you might set your sights high, you discredit yourself !hen your objective
statement contains unrealistic asirations or overconfident statements% .or e(amle,
claiming you lan to be the ne(t Warren 4uffett is the ,uickest !ays to ensure you do not
receive a call for an intervie!% -void this resume mistake by creating a realistic and
believable objective%
-voiding these resume mistakes is as imortant as including the right information on
your resume, such as your accomlishments, skills, !ork e(erience and education
information% In the same !ay that omitting imortant information is more likely to land
you an intervie!, these resume mistakes are more likely to ensure you do not land one%
&he *o!er of Words: What Resume Words to -void
&he best !ay to get yourself noticed and land an intervie! is to craft a resume that
commands attention% 5very industry has certain bu11 !ords, clich6s and terminology
associated !ith it, as do different skills and accomlishments7 the roblem !ith using
these resume !ords is that many, many others do, too% Instead of catching the eye of the
erson revie!ing your resume, you are more likely to have your resume tossed in the "do
not call$ ile% Why8 You are like 99 ercent of other alicants !ho use the e(act same
terminology% 4ecause of this, choosing the right resume !ords and understating the
o!er of !ords is aramount to getting your resume noticed:and landing intervie!s%
&he o!er of !ords
Your resume is meant to sell you:your strengths, your abilities and your
accomlishments% .alling into the itfall of using overused resume !ords, hrases and
terminology is a result of telling instead of sho!ing% If you really !ant your resume to
stand out, carefully choose your !ords, and sho!, not tell, !hat you are about !hen it
comes to getting the job done% Recruiters, hiring managers and 0R ersonnel evaluate
your resume !ith several ,uestions in mind, so the o!er of !ords you select rovides
the ans!ers they seek%
0o! can you make their comany money8
0o! can you save their comany money8
'o your skills match their job osting8
0o! do you stand out from a resume they just read or are about to read8
What did you do to make a ositive difference in your revious jobs8
When you ans!er these ,uestions by telling !hat you have accomlished, you are not
sho!ing resume revie!ers anything they have not already seen a thousand times% What
do you !ant to sho! them8 You !ant to harness the o!er of !ords% You !ant to
carefully select good resume !ords that aint a icture of your skills% In other !ords, you
!ant to sho! through e(amles, secific e(amles !ith details%
&he o!er of !ords that are carefully chosen to sho! you ossess certain skills make a
difference% Without having to sell it out in overused and trite language, !rite about the
secific things you accomlished:use figures, ercentages and anything that backs u
!hat are trying to sho!% &he !ords in resumes you submit make the difference bet!een
having a good resume that creates intervie! oortunities and a bad one that leaves you
unemloyed%
/hoosing resume !ords
0o! do you choose !ords that sho! and not tell8 &he best !ay to learn is to see the
difference in ractice, so consider the follo!ing e(amles of overused resume !ords
re!ritten to sho! accomlishments through cold, hard facts and e(amles%
)verused hrase ;<: 5(erience
-void: 5(erience develoing tasks for cro!dsourced labor
+se instead: 'eveloed task structures across a !ide sectrum of businesses,
including those for several .ortune =>> comanies
)verused hrase ;?: Successful
-void:Successfully sold comany3s main roduct lines
+se instead:Increased sales by @?A across lotion, body sray and hand soa
roduct lines
)verused hrase ;B: 'etail oriented
-void : 'etail#oriented !eb content !riter
+se instead : Wrote <>>>s of ages of S5) content that ranks on age one of
Coogle results
)verused hrase ;@: &eam layer
-void: &eam layer !ith a!areness of various team members
+se instead: Worked closely !ith clients, cro!dsourced !orkforce and sales team
to develo, moderate and deliver mass#scale tasks that created accurate, results#driven
data and content
)verused hrase ;=: Resonsible for
-void: Resonsible for returning data and results on or before client deadlines
+se instead:Moderated, sorted and returned results of @>> cro!dsourced tasks to
clients at least one !eek before deadline
&he o!er of !ords you select make all the difference% Instead of roviding a rosective
emloyer !ith a vague list of !ords that sho! little of !hat you are really caable of,
choose resume !ords that demonstrate !hat you can do% Cet as secific as ossible, and
incororate ercentages, numbers and the gritty details !henever ossible% -ny
,uantitative data you suly s,uashes your cometition !hen it comes to landing an
intervie!%
)ther overused resume !ords to avoid
&he e(amles given above are just a small number of overused resume !ords and
hrases% You can harness the o!er of !ords to get your oint across !ith descritive
details that sho! your skill set !ith facts% &he list of !ords and hrases belo!, !hile not
e(haustive, should rarely aear on your resume, at least not !ithout lenty of facts that
demonstrate the skill or accomlishment you are listing%
-mbitious
/aable
/onfident
'etermined
5ffectual leader
5fficient
5nergetic
.le(ible
0ard !orking
Indeendent
)bjective
*roactive
*roblem#solving skills
*rofessional
Dualified
Self#motivated
Strong communication skills
Suitable
Well#organi1ed
&he bottom line is many of these !ords are emty if you cannot back them u !ith the
details that sho! your !orth% Resume revie!ers are unlikely to ut much faith in your
otential if you cannot sho! them through carefully selected resume !ords that you have
the skills they need%
If your resume currently has many of these emty !ords, ut some facts on aer, and
re!rite your skills and accomlishments using the o!er of !ords to sho! your
strengths% Eust as the tye of resume you choose and the resume design you use to dislay
your information is imortant, so too are the !ords !ith !hich you reresent yourself%