Top 15 Things You Can Leave Off Your Resume

Top 15 Things You Can Leave Off Your ResumeTop 15 Things You Can Leave Off Your ResumeThere are some things that simplydont belong on your resume. Including them can get your resume knocked out of consideration for a job before it gets a thorough review. You might think youre giving the employer many reasons to hire you, but when it comes to resume writing, there is such a thing as too much information. Employers are looking for reasons to screen out applicants when reviewing a batch of resumes in order to produce a manageable group of candidates to interview. Make sure you dont include the wrong information, which is anything that might lead the company to conclude you are not motivated or qualified to do the job.Review information on howemployers decide which applicant to hirebefore starting work on your resume. Then work on revamping your resume, so it includes information that will help you get noticed by the hiring manager. 30 Seconds to Make an Impression Recruiters can tak e as little as thirty seconds to conduct an initial reviewof your resume. Thats not long. You should avoid cluttering your document with unnecessary information that might make it harder for employers to find the fruchtwein qualifying elements of your background. If the hiring manager cant quickly skim your resume to determine whether youve got the right qualifications, you may be out of contention for the job. The resume reader should immediately be drawn to skills and information relevant to the position they are seeking to fill. Take thetime to match your qualifications to the jobwhen deciding what information toinclude on your resume. Youll be doing both the hiring manager and yourselfafavor. Showing the reader youve got the right stuff will make it easier for the hiring manager to decide youre worth taking the time to interview. Top 15 Things You Should Leave Off Your Resume Here are the top fifteen things that should not be included on a resume. Leave them off, and keep yo ur resume sharply focused on the skills and qualificationsnecessary for the job for which youre applying. Long paragraphs without bullets.Employers might gloss over sections of your resume and miss key evidence of your qualifications if paragraphs are too dense with text. A resume should be easy to read and decipher. Nobody wants to read lengthy descriptions of what youve done at every job you have had. Review these tips forwriting a resume experience section.Statements in your objective or summary that point to what you want to gain from the job. Your focus should be on what you can provide to the employer. Your goal is to sell the hiring manager on picking you for an interview. Heres what toinclude in a resume summary statement. General descriptions of duties without reference to how you added value. Employers dont want to see your job description they want to learn about the skills and assets you utilized to achieve real results. Take the time toquantify your achievementsand show the reader, at a glance, what you have accomplished at each position you have held.Phrases like Responsibilities or Duties Included. Make your resume about what you actually accomplished, not what you were supposed to do in the job. Hereshow to include your accomplishments on your resume. Starting phrases with I. Start your statements withskill, action, or accomplishment words,suchas analyzed, created, or reduced, to engage the reader instead of nouns or pronouns. Even though your resume is about you, its more about showing the hiring manager youre qualified for the job.Irrelevant experiences,especially from the distant past. Every statement on your resume should lead the employer to the conclusion that you have the rightqualifications for the job. Your goal is for the recruiter to spend their time on your fruchtwein significant relevant experiences. The same holds true for skills. Be sure the skills you include are current and relevant to the job, otherwiseleave them off your resu me. Empty or flowery language such as exquisite, outstanding, or interesting.Every phrase on your resumeshould point to a specific skill or accomplishment.Otherwise it is just a distraction. Stick to the facts, and keep your tone simple and focused.Misspellings or grammatical errors.Your resume serves as a sample of yourwriting skillsand evidence of whether or not you are detail oriented. If you have a typo, someone will probably notice, and it could be held against you. Check out theseproofreading tipsbefore you use your resume to apply for jobs. Even better, ask someone to proofread it for you. It can be hard to catch your own mistakes. Personal information suchas height, weight, birth date, age, sex, religion, political affiliation, or place of birth.Employers shouldnt make employment decisions based on these factors and may resent the fact you are tempting them to do so. Keep your resume focused on the facts. The exception is if you arewriting a curriculum vitaefor a country whe re the practice is to include personal information.Hobbies or interests that do not point to desirable workplace skills or bear any relevance to the job.Candidates, especially experienced individuals, should have more compelling information to share in the limited space of their resume. Instead, considera resume skills sectionwith your skills that are fruchtwein closely related to the job. Weak assertions about academic achievements suchas GPAs below 3.0 or mentions of makingthe deans list for only a semester or two. Dont bring academic achievement to the recruiters attention unless it is an area of strength.Theres no point in trying to impress a hiring manager with something thats not impressive. Hereswhen to include a GPA on a resume.Photographs,unless you are applying for a modeling or acting job.Employers dont want to be drawn into allegations of discrimination. Provide theURL of your LinkedIn profileif you think your appearance is an asset. Heresinformation on whether you shoul d include a photo on your resume. Reasons for leaving your previous employers.Thiscanseemlikeyouaremakingexcuses.There is no need to justify your career moves. This information isnt relevant to why you should be hired for the job for which youre applying.Names and contact information of former supervisors.Furnish aseparate list of your referenceswhen requested. Give those individuals a heads up when they might be contacted by an employer, so they are prepared.Space fillers like References Available Upon Request.They take up precious space and may cause you to leave off more relevant information. It goes without saying that you will furnish references if requested. You dont need to advertise the fact. What Employers Do Want in a Resume What do employers want? According to aCareerBuilder survey, heres what employers want when they receive resumes Customized for their open position 61%Accompanied by a cover letter 49%Addressed to the hiring manager or recruiter by name 26%Links to the applicants online portfolio, blog, or website 21% Review a list of the top skills to put on your resume, and guidelines for what should be included on a resume. Focusing on your most valuable assets will help you get an interview - and a job offer.

Why You Need Both a Resume and a Strong LinkedIn Profile

Why You Need Both a Resume and a Strong LinkedIn ProfileWhy You Need Both a Resume and a Strong LinkedIn ProfileIf LinkedIn had its way, there would be no such thing as a resume anymore. We may be heading in that direction, but we certainly arent there yetThe reality is that you need both a well-constructed resume and an optimized LinkedIn profile for an effective current job search. They should share a certain amount of information and complement each other, but not be identical.Your LinkedIn profile can draw recruiters and hiring authorities to you when you show up in their search results. It can be the pathway for them to reach out to you to request your resume. And, virtually every company of a certain size will require a resume from you for their applicant tracking system at some point in the hiring process.See 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.Conversely, when you submit your resume to companies, you can assume that when it draws some interest, reviewers are also lik ely to search for you on LinkedIn for additional information.Your LinkedIn profile and resume should both portray the arc of your career. A quick scan of both documents should easily reveal an identical backward chronology of your work history, job titles, dates of employment, skills and a personal branding statement. Both should also demonstrate your value whenever possible by including specific quantification of your achievements.Stories vs. Results. Typically, the modern resume will list no more than three or four bullets for each job youve held. However, each of them should tell a story in miniature What was your overall challenge, what did you do to meet the challenge and what happened because you did whatever you did?However, thats too much information and doesnt fit the tone of a LinkedIn bullet point. Here it is great to put yourself forward and say something like I accomplished X. A simple one- or two-line statement is quite sufficient for LinkedIn when it is results-orient ed.See 8 Ways Millennials Can Build Leadership Skills.Length. Generally speaking, your resume should be one or two pages, although in certain circumstances it might merit an addendum, such as for works published. By contrast, there are, of course, no fixed length pages online. You can add quite a bit of information to each section of your profile, and you can include a variety of additional documents Word, PDF, PowerPoint, sound clips and images.Your limited resume length should force you to pare down your overall story to the bare bones, but on LinkedIn, you can show examples of presentations, portfolios and even append your resume. Note, however, that to prevent scamming and identity theft, you should omit your physical address, phone number or other information that can make you vulnerable.Formality vs. Sociability. Your resume is a formal document which says by its very nature I want to be considered for a job. Personal pronouns I and he/she should not be found anywhere on a r esume. Your audience is typically limited to recruiters, HR professionals and hiring authorities. A resumes sole objective is to get someone to contact you to say Wed like to talk with you about such-and-such position.By contrast, LinkedIn is, at its essence, social media. It is all about you connecting with, and interacting with, other individuals. It is preferable to speak of yourself using the I pronoun. Make it friendly and engaging instead of stuffy and formal.There are many solid reasons to have a LinkedIn profile in addition to searching for a new job, and it shouldnt be presumed that just because you have a profile you are looking to make a move.Remember that your profile isnt seen just by hiring authorities, but rather by any and all of your first-degree connections, all the way out to third-degree connections. You may come up as a search result for any number of people who are seeking anything that you might have included in your profile, not necessarily having to do with employment.See The 25 Best Jobs of 2017.Testimonials and Endorsements. From time to time you might see a short testimonial quote employed in a fancy resume these days. But that is hardly the norm, nor is it expected.However, one of your LinkedIn profiles key sections will be a listing of your skills. You can list up to 50 skills in this section, and any of your contacts can endorse you (without your request or permission) for any or all of them. It is a good idea to list all the key skills you have that are relevant for the jobs you seek, as hiring managers can search for people with specific skills.People can also provide written recommendations for you, which can give potential employers testimonials up front about the kind of employee you will likely be, and how others have valued their professional relationship with you. Its worth it for you, as well, to identify several of your connections whose work style and accomplishments you value and initiate recommendations for them.Be s ure to keep both your resume and profile complete and up to date. Make use of them in the proper way and you are sure to advance your job hunt prospectsHappy hunting

The Productivity Costs of Sleep Deprived Workers

The Productivity Costs of Sleep Deprived Workers The Productivity Costs of Sleep Deprived Workers In fact, some studies have produced a number to quantify the financial loss attributable to sleep deprivation $18 billion per year.Americans tend to under-sleep by choice, burning the candle at both ends due to hectic work and family schedules, says Laura Stack, time management and productivity expert and professional blogger. We believe we can have more time for work and family by allowing ourselves less time for sleep. However, many of us do snooze- at work, driving to and from work- in a state of stupefied sleepiness.Excessive sleepiness at work can account for a productivity decrease of up to one-third and affects the quality and amount of work of which an employee is capable. And those errors, injuries, and other health-related consequences caused by drowsiness only adds to the costs past on to employers.For many people, sleeping less is simply a matter of efficiency, but a recent survey found that 85 percent of people would make an effort to sleep more if they were sure it would improve their life. What many people may be overlooking here are the effects of sleep deprivation such as lapses in short-term memory, lessened reaction time,difficulty concentrating, and depression of the immune system.