Discussion on:

Four things that make your resume look dated

Any good HR department will require references before making an offer, not just google the applicant. I'm an IT Manager and have only hired one person who knew some one. Throughout my IT career (1995-present) I've only gotten one job through knowing a person. And that only got me the interview; it just happened to be a good fit.

I know a Chinese-born professor who told me that any resumes with errors are immediately tossed into his trash can, with no slack being given to non-native speakers. He said, "If they can't even get their own resume right, what kind of work will they produce?"

Unless your resume states you are from India, good luck trying to get an IT job in the states. Most development work is done in India. I've personally trained oversea resources on 3 of my previous positions, just to be moved to another area or company.

....why not Network PJR1976?

It's not even what you know, but who you know.
People are more likely to hire qualified people that they know, than some stranger. Many times you may find that even though you are more qualified than the next person, the person who knows people in the upper levels of the organization will get the job sooner than someone who does not. Nepotism Lives!

this is so so so true. Thanks ma'am. Will make over my resume soonest.

Not a bad read here, but it would be nice to say this is an example of a dated resume, and this is the revised, up-to-date version that will guarantee you an interview!

One more item that will make your resume look dated is listing old technology. For example, you might be proud that you once had an MCSE in Windows 3.1, but it is irrelevant for today's technology.

3 years Cobal programmer might actually help. Do you how many legacy systems are in industry that need changing?

I've always heard to keep the resume to one page. Do you think that is important? or can it go two pages? Most HR folks I talk to say one page because that is all the reviewers will look at any way because there maybe hundreds of applicants. There is just no time to go into detail. If you actually get an interview, that is the time to bring a detailed resume and talk in detail about your past history. What do you recommend?

The first page will make you or break you! If you get an interview, you should be prepared to discuss your previous employment(s) in some detail.

But i also center lots of stuff, there are no margins, and it sort of... stands out in a stack. It is also two pages, but i have a section that equates to an elevator pitch so two pages is a forgivable sin. it actually looks like i just slapped it together, but i actually spent hours on it to make it look... quote 'ugly, weird, interesting, shiny' unquote.

It's the reason i always get a call back, from what i've heard. Got me a job so i'm not complaining.

Dates are essential to show you were ina job long enouh to actually learn something and apply it and shwo soe evidence oif committment and follow through - job hopping, being opushe dor qutitng when it gets tough are the alternative impressions

Dont submit a pdf file - interviewers want to make notes or highlight key opoints
Dont hide your email in a header of footer or even worse forget to add it - make youself easy to copy and pastw and easy to find if you wnat someone tio make contact.

Don't semnd your cv wiht a file name of 'cv' or 'resume' - it willg e tsot - sue an intelleignt file formalt like MIckeyMouse_Accountant_Feb2012 so that if the file is saved it can be easily identified for suitable openings.

Don't ******** - state specific deliverables and numbers you can prove, not self opinions- dont cut and paste huge sections from IT manuals about products - IT Managers know what Oracle or SAP etc do, that is why they are hiring soemone with those skills- your cv is about you. the mrioe waffle you ou tin the mroe you sond likke everyone lese and the more ytour actual contribuitions get buried.

Dont make your cv hard or boring to read with waffle padding

Yoru cv is the agenda you wnat for th interveiw so don't fillit up by clinign ot be an expert on everything - if its on your cv then its reasonable for an interviewer to interrogate your claimed skill one candidate I interviewed had claimed to be an Oracle expert- when it turned out in the interview he would struggle to even spell Oracle, he then said it was covered itn 2 hours in his degree course one afternoon. So your cv should list the things you want to tall about in a way that interests the inteviewer to ask you questions about it. What is the hook in your statements to make me want to know more? 'I can programme in 25 coding languages' makes me think you have mastered none of those - whereas 'I billed 200 days last year 'or the programme I developed is now used by over 100 companies' or I raised system up time from 95% to -99.5% by developing automated audit tools" are the sort of thngs I wioukld like mys taff to do for me and I wan to knwo more aboutb how you did it and that will give you the chance to tell me how wonderful you are on a subject you know well and abou thwich have a good story to tell.

I could go on- i receive 5-10 cvs a day most are atrocious and a waste of my time. If you are a supposed IT expert and degree edcuated what standard of cv presnetation shoild I expect - do you need to bother? do you think that everyone else competing for the job has that attitude? You should at least be able to spell check format and align text and use - IT peole who can't communicate clealry and logically about themselves in a cv are unlikely to do any better with a project or a complex technical issue they have to report to sneior managers or clients so what should I conclude?

I could continue for several more pages but you get the idea. Th cv is ot get an interview not to get the job. - if in doubt make it much shorter - you will make fewer mistakes, and it will get read - and the less said the less chance of being eliminated. Just enough to show you have adequate relevant experience/qualification/skills and to set an interesting agenda for an interview.

Don't forget to splel chekc.

x

I'm a hiring manager and I totally disagree with the statement about managers not being interested in what candidates are looking for. If I get a resume for an entry level help desk job that says I want to be a Server Administrator or a Zoo Keeper, then I know this may not be the right person. I also want to know where you worked, when you worked there, what your title was is interesting and I want to know what you did. I don't like resumes that list experiences and accomplishments only and don't tie them in with some context like what company they were at and how long ago was that. When you read through hundreds of resumes, it is easier on the eyes if they are formatted in a similar fashion so I know where to find thing. Contrary to popular believe, resumes that are totally different annoy me rather than interest me; just in case you think I'm too you to know anything, there are 2 of hiring managers at our company that agree on these statements, 1 is under 30 and the other is over 40. Just saying....

Thank you.

Well, let's start with the fact that I actually remember Pearl Harbor. OK, so I was only four, but still!

I guess that's why I don't send out resumes any more. Good luck to those of you who still do.

One of the mistakes applicants do is putting an image in the resume that is not formal, just copied from fb, etc. and they tend not to print it on a photo paper.

Sounding cliche in the objective statement and self assessments probably won't help. I typically save the what-you-can-do-for-the-company bit for the cover letter as otherwise I might be writing seperate resumes for every application.

I suppose the references available is also unnecessary but along the objective as intro it makes a nice closing. Neither use any significant amount of space and per the earlier post about using Google: are you kidding?

Instead of "references upon request" add the link to your LinkedIn or even better, your personal (professional) website... that way, you can provide some samples of your professional accomplishments.
Also, having a personal website improves the quality of your profile when people Googles your name, because it will focus on your professional achievements. Focus on patents you have, public conferences you have delivered or publications where you have participated.

I have been back in school now for a couple of years, seeking a career change. From the looks of these posts it makes me wonder if I made the right decision. I had the belief that getting into networking would be a great choice. But, now I wonder if I shouldn't consider staying with the career I have been in for twenty plus years now.

A few head hunters told me they barely even look at CVs now. They feed it into the computer and an application plucks out keywords. They are looking for someone who knows SAP? Crank out a list of people who mentioned it in their CV and see in what context.

Putting aside all this new age resume non-sense. If you don't list the objective of the position you are applying for how are they supposed to know which position you are applying for? This is especially true if the hiring organization has a number of open IT positions they are looking to fill.

The cover letter should say what you are applying for, and why you would be a good fit for the job. That is where the specific sales job comes in.

Let's face it, almost no one reasons a resume until it gets in front of a hiring manager. HR is surfing resumes from the major job boards or using systems like Taleo. They do keywork searches to get the first cut.

If you want to get past HR, make sure your resume is parseable. If you confuse the parsing engines HR will never see your resume.

You will be surprised how many people are on linkedin, facebook and other social media.

Spelling and grammar are very important. I have seen many resumes that have 'excellent communication skill' and with that phrase, I know that they are not. For those who have not spotted it yet, 'skill' should be plural.
Take note viggenboy, Google should have a 'd' to make it past tense.

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It's rare for two companies to have the same procedures. In this age there's a lot of luck and who you know. If the job market was better I think some institutions would drop their strange strategies of find the right person. In some fields you have to take surveys as part of the application process.

Reading this was enough for me to cancel my subscription.

1. A generic objective statement which suggests that the writer is unfocused/lazy, lacks perspective of the position/company, or is hoping that the recipient will be proactive and deduce what the candidate is marketing him/herself to will fail. I know of employers who will abandon any consideration of a resume which leads with an objective offering the meaningless and trite, "A challenging position..." An insightful and targeted objective will provide focus for the reader and will provide an implicit message that the resume narrative following is generated to support the objective.
2. A resume encumbered by amateurish formatting, stylized and random font shifts, and illogically placed categories demonstrates dysfunction and a disorganized candidate. Research the corporate website... acquire a sense of the company's existing motif and respond with a resume created with a font roughly paralleling the corporate style, IE conservative = times roman or similar; progressive = arial or similar. Don't permit the resume to become an experiment for your presumed word processing skills. Even if you're pursuing a graphics/media position which presumes some latitude in stylization, the resume may not be the place to demonstrate your "risk taking". Someone in the company has already made an investment in the company's presentation/motif - perhaps the person who will intercept your resume - and you may run a risk of being perceived as arrogant or presumptive if you ignore the culture/mores the company is currently exhibiting.
3. Don't be afraid to portray yourself as energized, driven and willing to invest yourself... but use describers/adjectives that offer some substance. Subjective self-describers will have little/no value for the employer. Give some heft to your describers with a brief summary providing objective/quantified integrals... "Excellent sales record - achieved 'First Place' for generating new accounts totaling $2M+ for 4 consecutive years". If you're going to use numbers, though, make sure the numbers that you choose will be interpreted positively by the new company and its particular platforms for measuring achievement. Numbers suggesting worthy accomplishment in one company may be perceived as average or mediocre in another company with different value scales.
4. Agreed.
5. Don't be absolutist in defining for yourself what will work in your unique resume. Give yourself some flexibility, but don't veer too far from what may be standards in your industry. However, don't use standard MS Word boilerplate resumes... too often, your resume may be overlooked if it appears as just another rendition of another Word template.

"hiring managers couldn???t possibly care less about what you???re looking for"

Totally wrong. The should and do care. If your target position doesn't match to what the hiring company is needing, then the fit is bad and the hire won't last. The could result in thousands of dollars in lost productivity, training, and time.

I agree with Sadtruth

you kind of suggested that when (and more important how long) you worked in a position or for a company isn't important. As a hiring manager, if you don't give me month and year, I assume you worked one day in that position (before being terminated). Ends up looking like resume padding. Position, company, MM/YY to MM/YY with some detail about job duties.
Other than that, I agree with what you said. Talk about what you have done, not what you want to do...I want you to do what I am posting for.

The big problem with putting in dates is that it can work against you if you are an older worker. I put dates on the last 2 jobs I have and leave dates off for previous jobs. I also leave dates off of education, unless it is recent.

It is more important to show what you can do to benefit the prospective employer. What you want to show is that you can bring in at least 3 times return to the company for what you expect to be paid. If you only bring in enough to pay for your salary then you are too expensive or too lazy.

Having none of those in my resume didn't help me other than having interviews. I was always the runner-up....

Saying "I won't lie for my boss, or to my customers." - Which indicates you went to college before they stopped teaching ethics....
B^)

Please do not tell me all you have achieved, tell me what you can do for me and my sinking ship then I hire or look for the job somewhere else. Please also use English, English I am British. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA