what NOT to put in a resume

Sitting down and talking to others who review resumes we have come up with a simple list of things you should NOT put into your resume.

1)      'multi-task' this is a BIG no-no for many of us.  what this says is you cannot concentrate on what you are doing and need to jump around on job.  what this ultimately means is that you cannot do everything at 100% because you will be thinking of the other things you are 'doing' at the same time.   there are very few people who can legitimately  work on multiple projects at one time so chances are it is not you otherwise why would you have changed jobs every year for the past 10 years.

2)      ‘Instinctive’ – seriously this is on a resume.  What are your instincts when you are put into a new job that you know nothing about, or how it is supposed to look when the job is done? You do not need to be instinctive you need to follow directions. ‘

3)       A big jump in wages. If you have 4 pervious jobs where you are in the $7-$8.50 range do not ask for $14 without having a reason to. if you have not recently graduated from school, made a significant change to your ability there really is no reason to expect such a big jump ’just because’

4)      Location – if you apply for a job in Boston but live in Boca – explain why you are applying and a little bit about your plan to move

5)      “Give 110%” – you cannot give 110% you can give 100% and if you do more that new mark is 100%.  You can increase what you do but most people do not reach their ultimate potential and do not even work at 100% of what they could do.

6)      STOP being fancy with your work descriptions.  When we see different phrases that say the same thing 3 times on your ‘skills’ section that mean the same thing what do you think is going to happen.

7)      We do not hire you t ‘broaden your knowledge’ and “develop new skills”  we are hiring you to do a job, if you want to enlighten your life do it on your own time.

8)      there is no way that you are excellent at everything you try, it just does not happen.

9)      READ THE DAMN AD. If you see an ad looking for drivers and you are a cook you have wasted everyone’s time. If you are a cook and they are looking for a bio-chemist you have wasted everyone’s time.

There is more to come on this subject as I am sure there are a LOT of people that are going to hit the job market very soon.