Just the word resume can bring a shudder to candidates and hiring managers alike. Whether it’s applicants toiling over what to include or omit from their resumes or hiring managers dreading a stack of hundreds of resumes to sift through, they remain a necessary evil.
They don’t have to be evil, but they have certainly changed over time. Sometimes those changes are so subtle, we neglect to make them. During an average week, more than 3 million temporary and contract employees work staffing companies around the country. That’s a sliver of the workforce, but think of how many resumes that is.
There are resume writing subtleties that people aren’t readily privy to that we want to share with you. If you’re looking to find a new job, take a peek at your resume and heed the following tips.
Dates
Dates are the foundation of potential age discrimination. The only viable question is if you’re above 18 years old, therefore legally able to work fulltime. Dates other than that can lead some companies to draw inferences based on your age. Another is the length of your employment at certain companies. They only need to know you worked there. The description of your experience will serve as enough to prove your experience. The same goes with University graduation date. The date doesn’t matter, the degree does. Leaving out dates leaves room for focus on your credentials, plus if, in an interview, they start probing you for age relative information, that’s a big red flag.
Geographic Information
It’s important to be mindful of the location of new employment opportunities, but nothing should stop you from applying to something that you’d need to relocate for. Unfortunately, many companies will find qualified hires and throw out their resumes because of candidate locale. The first giveaway is your area code. It’s the age of the internet, the only contact information you need display is your email. Secondly, the location of your previous employment and University need not be displayed. Why? If where you’re from matters more than your qualifications, they can do a quick Google search. Oh, and it shouldn’t matter.
Where’s The Tech?
Paper resumes are largely a thing of the past. Hyperlinks to relevant work, social media platforms, projects, and personal websites are a wonderful way to boost your qualifications while taking up no extra space. Having a technologically sound resume also speaks to certain skills without having to list them. Technological proficiencies generally speak for themselves, so let them do the talking. Then, in an interview, you can add to the talking.
These might seem a little nitpicky, but the purpose of your resume is to highlight your talents and relevant qualifications for the positions you’re applying for. To find a new job, extraneous information that can be used to filter you based on facts irrelevant to a position’s requirements need not be displayed. However, it’s important that omissions are not false information. Never ever falsify resume information.
It’s important to note that when you want to find a new job, always give your resume a couple read-throughs. Highlight you, your talents, and your successes. Your resume is your time to shine, so leave every last letter to do exactly that.