By Jennifer Anthony | Printable download: Is Your Resume Too Cluttered?
One of the most common mistakes jobseekers make is not updating a resume in the correct way. Jobseekers often pull out the most recent resume on file and simply add the details of the latest position. Unfortunately, this lazy habit makes for a very long and boring read. If you do not edit or delete obsolete information, your resume can easily become cluttered and long-winded. Here are a few tips that will help keep your resume succinct and your potential employer awake while evaluating your qualifications.
Customize your resume for each position.
Focus on one single goal. By determining ahead of time what your specific career goals are, you will be able to maintain focus and writing your resume around a single job target will be much easier. If you have more than one goal, you must create multiple resumes. It is career suicide to use only one generic resume for multiple applications. Each time you apply for a job, you must edit your resume to fit that specific position, just as you would with a cover letter.
Tip: If you are not sure of how to effectively target your resume, please read “How to Target Your Resume to the Job You Want” for advice.
Focus on your accomplishments, not the mundane responsibilities.
If you focus too much on your duties, your resume goes unnoticed with ease. Show a potential employer how you made a difference in your previous assignments instead of how you merely fulfilled your job requirements. Place your skills in a short summarized section and then use bullet points to highlight your achievements and significant contributions. Detailing your unique accomplishments will generate the hiring manager’s interest and it will help you to demonstrate how you can put those skills into action and duplicate your past successes to benefit your future employer.
Note: If it is necessary to find out about your day-to-day job duties, your interviewer will ask you for that information.
Employers want a demonstration of competence. Nothing more — nothing less.
Leave off the junk! Do not add information that does not relate directly to the needs of the target audience. As a jobseeker, your intended audience is a hiring manager and they do not care that you were in chess club during high school or that you were captain of the college tennis team. Additionally, if you list activities that identify your sexual preference, political affiliation, or religious beliefs, you risk having your application discarded based solely on the personal bias of the resume reviewer. Prejudice is more common than people will admit and discrimination still exists.
Recruiter Advice: “The only exception is that if you know that your community involvement or activities would demonstrate that you are a great fit for the organization’s culture. However, you must do extensive research or have insider knowledge to know this for certain.”
The most important thing to consider when creating your resume is to think like an employer. Keep it short, simple, and to the point.
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© Jennifer Anthony, Nationally Published Resume Expert & Career Strategist
Disclaimer: Advice offered in this article is not comprehensive and is intended for a wide-range of readers. Individual results may vary based on geographic location, local economies, market saturation for a particular industry, academic background, adaptability to workforce changes, and/or continued motivation. Contact a professional resume writer to discuss your unique situation.
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