Resume Do's & Don'ts

One resume doesn’t fit all. Take the time to tailor your resume for each position you apply for. “Avoid a cookie cutter resume at all costs,” says Greg Antonelle, recruiter director for AimHire Associates. “Especially now. There are so many job seekers and a lot of people who could do the job.”

You don’t want to miss a call to come in for an interview because—duh!—you never enabled voicemail. Make sure the number on your resume can take messages, and has a professional greeting. “You’d be surprised how many times people give a number and there is no answering machine,” says Patricia Lenkov, president of Agility Executive Search. “Nobody is going to try two or three times to get in touch with you.”

Think of a way to include numbers in your resume. It’s a specific, tangible way to show exactly what you achieved at your previous company. “They know what the job description is,” says Patrice Rice, who has been reading resumes for 25 years. “Tell them how you affect the bottom line.”

While it’s great that you have 25 years of experience, recruiters only need to see between 10 and 13. “It just isn’t relevant,” says Stacey Schmidt, marketing recruiter for Vistaprint. “Things have changed, technology has changed. You really don’t want to go back that far.”

Bullet points are clean, uniform and easy to read. Choose language that will communicate your best assets, and put your most impressive and most relevant experience first. “They may or may not go further,” Rice says. “Those first four bullets are your sales pitch.”

We know you love your kids, pets and hobbies—but they don’t belong on your resume, even in the form of a (you think) charming screen name, like OrlandoQuiltLover. “You would hope it’s common sense, but unfortunately it’s not,” Antonelle says. The hiring staff of some companies see up to 350 resumes a day, and they will seize any excuse to throw yours away, says Marky Stein author of FEARLESS RÉSUMÉS: The Proven Method for Getting a Great Job Fast.

Supplements to your resume help bolster the case you’re putting together for why a company should hire you. “If you have documentation you can show, it gives you the edge,” says Nancy Keene, director in the Dallas office of Stanton Chase, a global executive search firm. Don’t send along a ten-page document, but parts of a case study or executive search could demonstrate to recruiters why you’d be a great hire.

The hiring staffs of large corporations weren’t born yesterday. “Beware of inflating your past or current titles, positions, responsibilities, and education. It will only embarrass you when an experienced corporate recruiter delves deeper into your history, only to find out you were flat-out lying,” says Lizandra Vega, author of The Image of Success: Make a Great Impression and Land the Job You Want.

It sounds simple, but all too often spelling errors make their way onto resumes. “A spell checker is not enough,” says Charles Purdy, senior editor at Yahoo! Jobs. “You need to have someone else look at your resume before you send it, to make sure you don’t have any obvious errors.”

Companies aren’t hiring you because you know how to kayak. Only put information on your resume that is relevant to the position you are applying for. “Save this space for more important information,” Schmidt says. Volunteer information, however, is acceptable, because it shows you are dedicated and could be relevant to the new position.

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