[MUSIC] Now that you know what to put on
a resume to make a hit with employers, I'm going to tell you what you
should leave off the resume. Six elements that will doom it to failure. Even if you are responding to
an ad that specifically asks for this information, don't include it. If your expectations or
salary history are too high, a perspective employer will weed
you out right from the start. If they're too low, you've lost
your bargaining power, or worse, you'll be hired for possibly thousands
less than what you're worth. It's a no win situation. Remember, it's always best to
discuss salary requirements after an offer has been made. Personal data,
it's a waste of prime resume real estate. No employer will make the interview
call based on your age, marital status, or excellent health. If your excellent health is directly
related to the position you're seeking, maybe a warehouse job where you
have to lift heavy objects, the time to bring that
up is in the interview. We might like to think that there
are enough legal protections against discrimination that disclosing
personal information such as age, and marital status would not be an issue but unfortunately we would
just be fooling ourselves. The only time that including hobbies or
personal interests on a resume is a good idea, is when your interests are relevant
to the position for which you're applying. For the most part, you can cover
this in the actual interview. These never count in your favor. If you left a job involuntarily,
that's a strike against you. Laid off always sounds a bit
like fired to some employers. If you left voluntarily,
that's also a strike against you. Maybe the employer thinks he
won't stick with this job either. The best strategy is to
never raise the issue. In some organizations, putting your picture on a resume
eliminates it automatically. These organizations want to avoid exposure
to possible discrimination complaints. Discrimination protections
notwithstanding, pictures simply give employers
another reason to reject your resume. If they don't like your looks, if they think you look too young,
too old, too fat, too thin. Too good looking,
not good looking enough, or whatever, your resume may
get tossed out unread. You want to be judged on
the basis of your talents and qualifications, not on your looks. So never include a picture. Now, models and performing artists
are the exception to this rule. Since their appearance is one of their
qualifications for some jobs however they generally submit 8 by 10 photos
separately, not on the resume itself. Eye candy comes in two flavors, and both
fatten up a resume without adding muscle. The first is cute graphics. On a resume these immediately
send the message that you are not to be taken seriously. Plus, they divert the employers attention
from your achievements and qualifications. I once received a resume from
a woman named Candy Kayn. K-A-Y-N. Trying to capitalize on
the cuteness of her name she stuck candy cane graphics
all over her resume. Within seconds,
that resume was in the trash. The second type of eye candy
are the info graphics you'll see advertised on the internet. They're popular with graphic designers,
but they're heavily from all fields. For example here are excerpts from
an info graphic recommendation for Asian job applicants. Much of this is misinformation. First, no resume will ever get you a job. The purpose of a resume is
to get you can interview. Second, the idea of using progress bars
to show your proficiencies in particular skills is complete fluff. Your claims mean nothing without
concrete evidence to back them up. Third, the when in doubt
box has four typos in it, even though one of its call outs Is to
proof read, in order to avoid typos. If you think I just cherry picked
a bad example, take a look at this. Again, three glaring flaws jump out
that would put this resume in the trash. First, squandering the resume
real estate like this Raises serious questions about
the candidates ability to prioritize. Second there is a fatal spelling
mistake in work experience on the left. The candidate might claim
attention to detail, but his resume proves
the claim to be empty. Then there's the skills
chart again on the right. I want to emphasize that these
so-called proficiency scales represent what Edward Tufte
called chart junk. Tufte is a professor
emeritus at Yale University. He's noted for
his writings on information design. He's a pioneer in the field
of data visualization. All four of these books
are beautiful examples. And Tufte rails against the kind of chart
junk found in newspapers like USA Today. The kind of chart junk that these
so-called proficiency scales represent. The problem is they don't communicate
anything of value to a hiring manager. The candidate we just looked at claims 5
star proficiency in project management, but he can't even produce
an error free resume. A professional's reactions to
these scales is, yeah, prove it. If you really have five star skills, then prove it with strong accomplishments
that provide solid evidence. Otherwise, the claims just
read as empty puffery. The principle at work here is simple, put nothing on your resume that
doesn't help you get an interview. Put nothing on your resume that gives
a reviewer a reason to reject you. Even if you're a graphic designer
who wants to show off your skills, leave the info graphics for
your portfolio. Keep them out of your resume. Unless what you're interested
in is impressing your friends instead of the hiring manager. And what we are looking at you
should never put on your resume. Let's take a look at other common
mistakes that will brig your resume to the digital trash can or
to te real thing. Your ability fo follow instructions
speaks to your attention to details. Follow instructions about who
to address the resume to. If the contact name should be in
the subject line, don't forget it. If the instructions call for the resume to be incorporated into
the email, don't send it as an attachment. It seems obvious, but you'd be
surprised how many candidates forget to include their contact information
once submitting a resume online. Or perhaps the candidate
was in such a rush, he or she simply forgot to include
anything in the subject line. Now, this submission might not even make
it past the organization's spam filter. Failure to reference the job or
position you're applying for, guarantees that you won't
be considered for it. I hope you're laughing out there and thinking to yourself,
how clueless could these people be? Then you will be sure not to
make any of the same mistakes. Let's look next at the biggest
hard copy resume mistakes. Do not fold the resume. Send it in an envelope that would
allow it to be transmitted unfolded. In the US that means a 9 by 12 envelope
for standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch resume. Similarly do not use staples, remember a paper resume will be
probably be fed into a scanner. If the recipient has to remove staples,
your resume may end up in the trash. Don't put your resume
in some sort of binder. This will most often work against
you because your resume does not fit easily into the file or pile of
other resumes and it becomes misplaced. Errors of any sort, from insufficient
postage to an incorrect address, contact, or department,
to misspellings in the resume. Any errors make you look bad. Think about the resume you just saw. His misspelling the word experience
Gave the lie to his entire resume. Finally, don't use odd sized paper, meaning paper other than eight-and-a-half
by 11 in the US, or A4 in Europe. Make sure the paper used for your cover
letter is the same as that used for your resume. Do not use personal or
decorative stationary for either one. There you have it. Mistakes that have been made by many,
many candidates before you. Avoid these and your resume will have a better chance
of doing what it’s intended to do. Getting you an interview. [MUSIC]