5 Critical but Often Overlooked Pieces of Resume Advice

In the course of writing resumes for our clients and updating this blog, we write/give a LOT of resume advice. Here’s five pieces of often overlooked advice that can make all the difference between a fruitless search and a shiny new job:

Make sure your outgoing voicemail message is professional.
What could be worse than having a resume that catches a recruiter’s eye, only to have them call your number and hear a ridiculous outgoing message like this: 

By the way, the same goes for email addresses. Nobody wants to hire ‘sexmonster69@gmail.com’.

Don’t share credit
This flies contrary to what we learned in kindergarten, but in the cutthroat world of resume evaluation, it’s every man (and woman) for himself. If you were part of a team that managed a spectacularly successful project, your resume should focus only on your contributions. It’s not in any way dishonest, and puts your best foot forward.

The things you find most interesting about yourself, aren’t.
A lot of our clients can’t resist the temptation to list hobbies or unusual skills on their resumes, likely with the thought that it will help them stand out from the crowd. The truth? It certainly does make you stand out – you look unprofessional and less than serious about your career search. Leave the fact that you are an aspiring magician for your Facebook page.

Leaving information off your resume can make you look better
If you have a number of employers in a short time span or took a job that was a big step back in terms of career progress, it might make sense to leave one or more jobs off your resume. The resume is a sales document, not a full factual accounting of your career history, and accordingly it is your duty to present the information in the most favorable light to yourself.

One resume simply doesn’t cut it anymore.
In this day and age of job boards, applicant tracking systems and social media, recruiting and hiring has taken on a laser like focus. To succeed, your resume needs to be just as focused. Instead of a general resume that you blast to everybody like an untrained monkey, you should be tailoring a resume for each and every job your pursue. Sure, it takes a lot more time, but the more effort you put in, the more you’ll get out.