Resume to Referral has a brilliant infographic called Avoid Being a Resume Hoarder that points out some of the things job seekers tend to keep on their resumes that should have been tossed out with the trash years ago.
Writing a resume can be an emotional process and it can be difficult for some to maintain objectivity during the writing process because the person has become attached to their own “stuff.” They remember the grit and determination that went into some of their earlier achievements and tend to ignore whether the information is relevant to their current target market. Here are some examples of information I see on resumes that should have been put out to pasture by now.
- The award you won for the Y2K project 13 years ago.
- The names of the accounts you worked on 7 jobs ago.
- Mention of the 3 colleges you attended before you graduated from the fourth one.
- The leadership role you held in your college fraternity 5 years ago.
- The 3 internships that proceeded your 3 most recent paid jobs.
- The “knowledge of Spanish” you acquired after 3 years of high school study
- The study abroad semester you did back in college.
Take a deep breath. Let it go. And if you can’t, find a resume writer who can provide the objectivity necessary to propel your candidacy into the future and not leave you stuck in the past.
