Resume Creating Tips – What you should and should not include!

Writing a resume can be easy for some people and others may find it intimidating. If you put too much information, it can hurt you just as badly as not putting enough.

Keep your resume professional looking.

What you should NOT put on a resume:

Fonts, Images, and Paper Color:

You do not need a bunch of fancy fonts, font sizes or images.  These will only take away from the information on the resume.

If you print your resume to mail it out or give out to companies do not print on colored paper. Some people think that this will make the resume stand out yet what it really does is make it hard to read.  If you insist on printing the resume on colored paper, then you might want to stick with an off-white or beige color.  No bright colors at all.

Never put on the resume that you are looking to work-at-home to stay home with your children!

Most employers who hire work-at-home employees already know the main reasons someone wants to work at home.  However, they also assume that you will have adequate child care if needed to complete your work each day.  If you put down this type of phrase on your resume, it can send a message to the company that you plan on trying to work with your children running around the room.

This can get your resume in a trash can very quick!

Email addresses:

Email addresses can impress someone or turn them away very quickly!  You would be surprised at the email addresses some people use on their resumes.  We have even gotten resumes sent in with silly email addresses.  If you turn in a resume with an email address such as: ilovemykids @ abc.com it can really look unprofessional.  Even if you have to get a free email address at gmail.com or someplace like that to create a professional one, you should do it.

If the you are in the medical transcription career field, for example, then you might want to create an email address such as Jones.MTServices @ abc.com.  Of course this is just an example.  It can even just be as simples as your name: K.Jones @ abc.com.

Salary:

Never include your previous or current salary on your resume.  Furthermore, do not include what you expect to be paid.  This is something that you can discuss when they call you for an interview.

Photos:

Years ago it was common to place photos on resumes.  Now days it is not necessary.

Race, Age, Religion or National Origin:

You do not need to include these things on the resume.  Companies are not allowed to be discriminate against any of these things, and the interviewer should never ask you about these topics.

Health Issues:

You do not need to mention your current or past health issues on a resume.  Some people want to work at home because of health issues that do not allow them to work a physical job. Putting something like this on a resume will give the company an impression that you will not be able to complete the work within dead-lines given.  Most companies realize that many people wanting to work from home may have health issues that don’t allow them to work a job away from home or may have children and want to be more available to them.

The reason I mention this is because we see resumes often that include the phrase “I need to work at home because of my health issues.”  You just don’t need to include that on there.  Obviously, if you did not feel you could do the job, then you would not be applying in the first place.

References – You can put references upon request if you want to.  However, it really is not necessary!  If a company wants to inquire about references, they will ask you for them.

What you should include on a resume:

Skills:

Be sure to point out your strong skills.  You might have extensive knowledge in how to use MS Word, or excellent proofreading skills.  If you worked as a teacher in the past, then you can point out this fact and how it has given you organizational skills.

Equipment and Software:

If you are applying for a work at home job position, you will want to include the type of equipment you have and software programs installed on your computer that might be beneficial to the job duties.  For example, you may have MS Office Professional or graphics programs such as Photoshop (if you are applying for a graphic-design  position).  If you have a fast internet connection such as DSL or broadband, you will want to point this out as well.

Education:

Be sure to list any college or online schools that you have taken classes from.  Point out the skills you have acquired from these classes.  If you graduated with honors be sure to mention this as well.  You do NOT need to put your elementary, middle school or high school information.

Employment History:

You don’t want to list more than 10 years of employment history on your resume.  Mentioning anything beyond that just makes the resume longer and most employers will only care about the last ten years.  If you have never worked before (maybe you were a stay at home mom), then you will want to point out any volunteer work you might have done during this time frame.  Maybe you helped organized school or church events, which will point out administrative and organizational skills.

You can do this by letting them know you made the choice to be a stay at home mom while your children were young; however, you continued to stay involved with different organizations (church, volunteer work, etc.).

If you took any continuing education classes during this time frame, then be sure to list that under education, but you can point out under the employment history section that you continued to keep your knowledge and skills up-to-date during the time you were a stay at home mom.

If you worked before becoming a stay at home mom, then you will want to mention this. There of course would be a blank for the time you didn’t work and this is where you will want to mention about your decision to become a stay at home mom.  You don’t want to leave a huge blank between work history dates without some kind of explanation.  Just make sure you keep the explanation professional and to the point.