COMMON RESUME WARNINGS
Beware of wizards—they all start to look the same!
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Generic cookie-cutter approach—one format does not fit all
Contact information is too small on some
Create your own headings
Objectives
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Caution: Avoid being too broad in your goal…and too specific (a specific
job title at a specific company is way too specific!)
Avoid “flowery” language just to make it sound more impressive
Add some qualifiers that will show you have some direction and idea of
what you want to do
o “…a management position” can be qualified with . . .
ƒ What field?
ƒ What industry?
ƒ What skill areas?
Use your objective to build the rest of your resume—focus on the items
that are relevant to and support your objective.
o Education or experience first?
Be brief and to the point
“rewarding”, “challenging”, “interesting”. What do they mean to you?
Education
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Keep the information brief and basic
Highlight the relevant information
When is degree expected?
Avoid using just the titles of courses; instead, describe subjects covered or
projects worked on
Experiences
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Create the titles that best suit you
o Work experience
o Retail experience
o Related experience
o Volunteer experience
o Other experience
o Activities
o Management
experience
Highlight relevant information (titles or companies)
Brief descriptive statements focused on actions, skills, and accomplishments
o What did you do?
o How did you do it?
o What were the results?
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Interesting or different experiences can help you stand out—something
interesting to talk about
Even the most mundane experiences may have a place on your resume—
important to show some work history. . . just don’t highlight prominently
Activities and volunteer activities can be described in a similar way to work
experiences—actions, skills, etc
Dates are not the most significant part of your experience—they don’t need to
be posted out front on the right side of the page. Instead, keep the dates on
the left side of the page so the reader sees your job titles and
employers/organizations before they examine the dates of your involvement
there.