What Not To Put On Your Resume: Part 1

What not to put on your resume: scribbles. flickr: kafka4prez, share alike.

Jane Ashen Turkewitz is a contract media recruiter and the President of T & Jam Resume Services, where she writes resumes for media and entertainment professionals. She is also the Editor of LetsTalkTurkeyBlog.com.

I interviewed some of the top media recruiters in New York to find out what they don’t like to see in a resume. There really is no scientific reasoning as to what people like or dislike, just a bunch of strong opinions. Some recruiters like personal information, others don’t. Some prefer a two-page resume, some one. Take a read and decide for yourself how you might want to update your resume accordingly.

Karen Danziger, from the Howard-Sloan-Koller Group, specializes in placing folks in editorial, production and creative. Here’s what she feels strongly about:

• Skills-based resumes are just all around bad. She wants to see resumes in chronological format and believes it’s uber-important to have months alongside your dates of employment. Years alone make it look like you are hiding a short stint somewhere.
• No “I” or “me” or “my” please.
• Lay off the canned, industry buzzwords and focus on substance.
• Don’t bother with the personal information —i.e., married with two kids; avid boater, etc. She says that many recruiters actually delete this information.
• Don’t waste your time hyping the companies you worked for. Instead, focus on your job and responsibilities.

As a media recruiter and resume writer, you bet I’ve got some opinions of my own on this topic. To check them out, visit LetsTalkTurkeyBlog.com, where I analyze what these top recruiters say and give my two cents.

Ed. note: More coming next week!