5 Things You Should Never Put on Your Resume

By Tom Mangan

Which blunders will send your resume straight into oblivion? There might be dozens, depending on the job, but experts say these five common resume mistakes are most likely to derail your job search.

1)  Your Age
Hiring managers need to know what you can do for them, not how many years you've managed to stay alive. Darlene Zambruski, managing editor of ResumeEdge.com and JobInterviewEdge.com, advises against:

• Listing professional experience more than 15 years old.
• Providing an exact number of years of professional experience in your opening summary.

"For example: 'senior accountant with more than 25 years of experience in...' -- this kind of data invites age discrimination," Zambruski said.

And don't forget that age bias cuts both ways: A resume that tells a future boss you're too young for the job is no good, either.

2)  Lists of Tasks or Duties Without Results
Your resume has to go beyond saying which jobs you've done: It must establish what you've accomplished on those jobs. Many applicants miss this key distinction.

"The only things that separate equally qualified candidates are the results of their efforts," Zambruski said. "For example, an administrative assistant may write, 'reorganized filing system.' That provides the task. What were the results? A better way to write it would be, 'Increased team productivity 20% by reorganizing filing system.' Results are what matter to hiring managers.

Things 3-5 and the complete Monster article



*** Some of my personal pet peeves.
- Listing your jobs so that the oldest are at the top of the list. 
- Made up titles - CEO of your lawn mowing business.