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<\/a>Check out this resume after it’s been redone by Wendy S. Enelow, an executive resume writer\/career consultant.<\/a><\/b><\/span>\nBy Elaine Pofeldt, contributor<\/span>February 25, 2011: 2:36 PM ET<\/span>
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(MONEY Magazine) — Been applying for work and have little to show for it? Don’t assume the lousy job market is solely to blame. Your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 could be working against you as well.<\/p>\n
Best practices for r\u00e9sum\u00e9 writing have changed a lot over the past few years, says Wendy Enelow, an executive trainer and author of Expert R\u00e9sum\u00e9s for Baby Boomers<\/i>. If you haven’t kept up, your document may be signaling that you’re past your prime. <\/p>\n
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We look at the resume above and highlight the common errors. Check out the same resume, redone, here.<\/a> <\/p>\n 1. Overdoing the contacts.<\/b> Multiple phone numbers make a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 look dated; you’re a dinosaur if you list a fax! <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Instead, simply state your cell number and e-mail — without labeling them as such, says executive coach Donald Asher, author of The Overnight R\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/i><\/p>\n 2. Relying on cliches.<\/b> Certain language has become so common in r\u00e9sum\u00e9s that it’s now virtually meaningless. <\/p>\n The Fix:<\/i> Skip these words and phrases, which LinkedIn found to be the most overused in online r\u00e9sum\u00e9s: innovative, motivated, extensive experience, results-oriented, dynamic, proven track record, team player, fast-paced, problem solver, and entrepreneurial. Instead, use keywords from the job ad, which will help you get past the r\u00e9sum\u00e9-scanning programs many firms use nowadays. <\/p>\n 3. Not describing past employers.<\/b> A younger hiring manager may not have the same scope of industry knowledge you do, and won’t be able to put your experience into context. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> “Unless it’s a Fortune 500 company, add a line such as ‘privately held company that manufactures pencils around the world,'” says Patricia Lenkov, CEO of Agility Executive Search in New York. <\/p>\n 4. Using outdated formatting.<\/b> For your first r\u00e9sum\u00e9, you may have been taught to put dates on the left, but that’s not how it’s done it anymore. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> List the years — not months, which are relevant only for recent grads — on the right after your title and the company, says Asher. <\/p>\n 5. Underselling self-employment.<\/b> Job seekers are often too vague about periods of self-employment, which makes these look like periods of unemployment, says Lenkov. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Be specific about the projects you tackled and name some of your clients, if you have permission. <\/p>\n 6. Leading with an objective.<\/b> “This is all about what you want from the company,” says executive coach Enelow. “What does the company care? You’re a dime a dozen in this marketplace.” <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Start with a summary or career profile focusing on what you can contribute. This person might say: 15-plus years’ experience spearheading global business development campaigns. (Why not 28 years? “Fifteen-plus communicates well-qualified, but not over the hill,” Enelow says.) You might also break out a bulleted list of expertise, like “Developing new clients” or “Making financial projections.” <\/p>\n 7. Revealing when you got your degrees.<\/b> Scary as it is, the hiring manager may not have been born yet. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Take the grad dates off. “Are we fooling anyone by doing so? No,” says Enelow, “but at least we’re not slapping them in the face with it.” <\/p>\n 8. Delving too deep into the past.<\/b> Your earliest job experiences are probably well removed from the level and type of work you do today. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> In general, go back only 15 years unless you have significant achievements before that, Enelow says. <\/p>\n 9. Showcasing run-of-the-mill skills.<\/b> Stating your familiarity with MS Word, PowerPoint, or Excel makes it look as if you’ve just gotten onboard. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> List only specialized software (such as Quick-Books) or newer technologies (programming platform Ruby on Rails, for example), says Garrett Miller, a former hiring manager for Pfizer who now owns CoTria, a workplace-productivity consulting firm. <\/p>\n 10. Noting passive activities.<\/b> While hobbies can create common ground, says Miller, you don’t want to highlight those that make you seem sedentary or unenergetic. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Athletic pursuits like cycling or running demonstrate vivacity, as do activities in which you’re giving back — organizing a fundraiser, for example. Experts once advised against noting religious activities, such as singing in a church choir, but that’s changed; such activities telegraph integrity, a quality that’s very important to hiring managers today, says Miller. <\/p>\n 11. Giving short shrift to recent experience.<\/b> Lots of older job seekers are hamstrung by outmoded rules requiring r\u00e9sum\u00e9s to fit on one page, and they therefore crunch down their recent — and most relevant — experience until it says nothing. <\/p>\n The fix:<\/i> Expanding your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to two or three pages is perfectly acceptable for someone in his forties or fifties. Devote half a page to your most recent job, Lenkov says. And bullet out action-oriented highlights, making sure to include quantifiable achievements, such as “Reduced costs 16% over two years.” \u00a0![\"To](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/0e63013ebug.gif\")
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