3 resume myths

I'm going to blow up a few myths about your resume.

1. Unless you are literally in a creative or design field, your resume does NOT need to be flashy, colorful or unique.

In fact, if you're not in a design field, you should use the most boring, standard resume format possible.

That's right. Remove that headshot, remove the fancy text boxes, remove the border colors, remove the company logos.

Why?

When an ATS (applicant tracking system) aims to parse information from your resume (name, contact info, position titles, etc.), it will have a hard time finding this information if your resume layout is too complicated.

Additionally, the DESIGN of your resume is not going to get you picked over someone else if your actual experience is not up to par.

Think about it.

"Hey Jim, I know we have an applicant with strong, quantified experience and years of relevant work, but have you seen the colors on this other resume?"

Doesn't sound logical, does it?

Your CONTENT is the most important thing on your resume. Spend time improving your bullets, not the design.

2. It is almost always best to put a location on your resume.

If no location is listed, some recruiters may have concerns.

For example, will they have to offer you a relocation bonus as part of the offer to move you closer to the role?

Will they guide you all the way to the offer stage, only to have you change your mind about the role due to the location's weather, cost of living, environment, etc.?

Is it realistic to have you come in for an onsite interview, or are you halfway across the country?

And here's a little secret:

Sometimes, even for fully remote roles, companies may prefer to interview/hire someone who is in fairly close proximity.

If you're leaving your location off your resume, you may be raising concerns with recruiters right off the bat.

3. You don't need to list ALL of your work experience throughout your entire career.

Age bias exists in the job market.

It sucks. It's ugly. But it's real.

If you have 20+ years of experience, unless the role you're pursuing calls for 20+ years of experience, you don't have to list it all.

Ask any recruiter and they'll tell you that the last 10 years of your career are far more relevant to them than anything else you've done.

Identify a good cutoff point on your resume where you can still capture all of your relevant strengths & major accomplishments, and consider leaving the early stuff off or putting it into an "Early Career" section without dates (just company names and job titles).

Anything outdated or irrelevant can be removed.

You may not be able to completely protect yourself from age bias, but you can minimize the effects of it on your candidacy.

Run this checklist of 3 items for yourself and make sure you're not hurting your chances of being selected for more interviews!

Tired of making changes to your resume yourself? I’ll do it for you.

Not sure if the resume is the problem with your job search? Let’s figure that out.

Need end-to-end support to escape the job search rat race and end your frustration once and for all? I’ve got you covered.

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