Watch for Resume Misinformation

I was doing some research for a resume and the more I dug into the internet for data and samples, the more frustrated I became.  Is it any wonder that people are confused about what to include in a resume when the internet is full of misinformation?

I saw a number resumes that included a person's age and marital status.  These people were from the USA; not some foreign country where including this type of information is looked at favorably. I also saw objectives in almost every resume sample out there.  I started to enter job titles just to see how many resumes I could find that included an objective.  The same thing happened with the "References Available Upon Request" samples. These resumes were not from individual people who posted on line; they were from legitimate resume writing businesses that charge you and arm and a leg to write your resume.

There were a number of businesses and college placement offices that provided directions on completing a resume that included these steps.  This misinformation includes: 

1. Write an objective stating the types of position that you are looking for.

2. In a chronological resume, list your position responsibilities in bulleted form.

3. Keep your resume to one page.

4. Include the names and contact information for your references.

Instead, a resume should include the following:

1. A summary statement that is a brief overview of your skills.  It is your branding statement that is carefully crafted to reflect what makes you different from the rest.

2. A listing of your accomplishments. This can be a bulleted listing but it must include measurable statements.

3. A resume can be two pages.

4. Your references and their contact information should be on a separate document.

Never include any personal information such as marital status, age, race, religion, etc. The most important part of the resume is the listing of your accomplishments.  You should spend most of your writing time crafting and refining these statements.