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Resume myths

 By: Terrence Channon (next month, Cover Letters)

 You are actively applying for jobs and want to make sure that your resume is absolutely pristine and effective. There are some very strong ground rules to follow as you prepare your resume, such as clearly listing your qualifications and omitting drunken photographs of you at a bachelor party. There are, however, many resume myths about what information to include or exclude. In most cases, these resume myths have some very compelling logic that supports their stance, but blindly accepting these myths may cause you to miss out on the opportunity to best tailor your resume to the specific job for which you are applying.

resume myth #1

List your personal interests

Many people include a list of some of their outside interests on their resume. For some odd reason, job seekers feel that employers want to know that they play tennis, volunteer at the local animal shelter and who their favorite football team is. In some very unique cases, including these personal interests might benefit your cause, but for the most part, it's best to leave out this resume myth.

Your resume is a tool to introduce yourself to the employer and express your interest in the position -- and to get the opportunity for a face-to-face interview. Before you list your personal interests, ask yourself if adding them makes effective use of your resume space. Are you getting the most bang for the buck regarding the real estate you are committing to this area? Certainly, there are cases in which sharing your personal interests will be relevant to the position and, therefore, advantageous. However, doing so to show that you are a well-rounded individual is probably a waste of time and unimpressive to the employer. Even if both of you are die-hard Boston Celtics fans, this information is not pertinent to the job at hand and it may look as though you are using this fact to get in the door. During the face-to-face interview, there will likely be very natural opportunities to discuss your personal interests, but use your resume to showcase your professional value to the employer.

resume myth #2

The more, the better

You have a limited amount of time and space to capture the attention of the person reading your resume. Prospective employees often adhere to the "more is better" resume myth and make the mistake of listing all of their qualifications on their resume. You absolutely want to present your skills and strengths and include all relevant experience, but listing every single one of your accomplishments is not an effective use of anyone's time. It is OK if your resume goes over one page -- just make sure all of the information is relevant.

Focus on presenting information and experience that is relevant to the job for which you are applying -- doing so will get the most value for your efforts when you prepare your resume. Information that is not pertinent to the resume will likely be glossed over and you will have missed the opportunity to present some valid selling points. If you include too much fluff on your resume, it will ultimately get tossed for lack of substance.

resume myth #3

One resume does it all

It can be awfully tempting to develop one generic resume to blast out to as many prospective employers as possible, especially when you will take just about any job to get a paycheck. It certainly sounds like one of those valid resume myths; at the very least, you'll save a lot of time and energy. However, just as you may feel that you're uniquely qualified for a position, the offered job can be just as unique. It will take extra work and creativity, but you would be well-advised to develop a specific resume for each job you seek. Of course, some items, like which degrees you hold will remain the same, but the skills listed and the descriptions of your previous jobs should communicate specifically to the job you're after. If you consider the job description and make an effort to write what the prospective employer wants to hear, you will greatly enhance your chances of getting some follow-up interest.

resume myth #4

Include references and salary expectations

We work because we need to make money and we all have an opinion about our exact worth -- both in monetary and intangible terms. While inclusion of salary expectations and reference information on your resume is not a total catastrophe, it can be the cause of more harm than good.

For example, if your salary expectations are too high, you might scare potential employers enough for them to never call you. The fact that you're a perfect candidate for the position becomes irrelevant; you are simply unaffordable and into the trash goes your resume. On the other hand, you may sell yourself short. Perhaps you requested $40,000, but the employer was going to offer you $50,000 -- you may feel good about getting what you asked for, but you can just as easily have left money on the table.

Including references is one of those long-standing resume myths, but it can also cause problems. Obviously, you want to make sure that your references are expecting a call from a possible employer. It can be inconvenient for your reference to get a call about you without warning, and it would be even worse if your reference did not think highly of you. You could find yourself out of a job before it was even offered. Drop these resume myths and save the salary and reference information for the interview and negotiation process.

resume myth #5

Embellishments are beneficial

The job market can feel super competitive and it can be very tempting to make yourself sound a little more important than you really are in an effort to shine. These embellishments seem simple enough -- after all, they're just white lies that nobody will ever know about. In many cases, that can be true, but dishonesty makes you vulnerable to all sorts of problems. For example, it would be pretty discrediting if your prospective employer actually calls your previous employer to verify your job tasks and discovers that you were not exactly forthcoming in your specific duties. Furthermore, just as you can likely tell when someone is verbally embellishing their abilities, the person reading your resume can do the same.

Sometimes, embellishments are painfully obvious, such as if you were to say that you were responsible for the profit and loss performance of the entire marketing division when your position did not involve any management title or responsibilities. On the flip side, if your embellishments are believed, you may find yourself in a position that is outside the scope of your real abilities and knowledge -- and you'll find yourself hired and fired in no time at all. In the end, honesty is the best policy and it leaves a little mystery on the table so that when you do outperform your billing, it is a welcome surprise rather than a stoic expectation.

myth-busting

When preparing your resume, do not blindly accept a standard set of rules. As in anything, such rules are more like guidelines. Use your best judgment in determining what information and how much of it to include on your resume. As previously mentioned, the inclusion of some personal information might be the piece that wins you the prized interview. However, when in doubt, lean to the safer side. Ask yourself: "Does my employer really want to know that I like chick movies?" or "Do I really want to tell them that I'm a survivalist with a fallout bunker?" or "Can saying that I hate to travel hurt my chances of landing the job?"