Judging by the responses and questions that arrived in my inbox, I succeeded in “leaving the audience wanting more,” which was also my concluding tip last week on how to make a resume look good. In future columns we’ll do a deeper dive into how to make a resume more competitive and convey your core competencies. For this week, here are my responses to some of the most common resume related questions that I’ve received from readers:
Should I include my hobbies?
It depends. You should definitely find at least one hobby in case you are asked at an interview what you do in your free time. Whether you put them on your resume depends on many factors including: How interesting are they? Where are you in your career? Could they be a cause of concern for an employer (e.g. if they are high risk activities like wing suiting or free solo climbing)? Do they show a unique side to you?
A few tips if you are listing hobbies:
Don’t list more than four.
If you are going into a high-stress field, employers may be interested to know that you have healthy outlets you enjoy.
Don’t be generic. Reading is not specific and doesn’t interest employers. I expect all my employees to be able to read and not be only interested in doing so as a hobby!
Do you have a hobby that’s generally associated with the opposite gender? This may well be worth including.
How many experiences should I list? How many bullet points should I have?
In general, don’t list more than four or five experiences and be sure to have three strong bullets for each (up to five or six if it’s a recent position and/or very relevant to your next role, and/or you held the position for a long time. As to how long the bullet points should be and what to include in them, I’ll address this in an upcoming column.
How do I account for gaps in my work history?
There are different schools of thought. Email me for more on this.
Must I tailor my resume to each position, like I do with each Cover Letter?
Only if you want the job.
As with my first answer above, avoid the impression of being generic to greatly improve your odds of getting noticed (by humans and certainly by an ATS). Give yourself a real shot at the role by spending at least a few minutes tailoring your resume to the job description before sending off each application.
Should I put both my dorm address and my home address?
Depends where you are applying. The role’s expectations around WFH can also be a factor, but generally in-state candidates are going to be preferred so use the address closest to the role you are applying for. If you don’t have an address in (or next to) that state, consider leaving the address off, or append a line to your address that you are relocating to that state.
Should I include references?
No. If they want them, they’ll ask.
Any tips for the end of the resume?
Make a favorable last impression: Use the last lines on your resume to highlight you and your talents – for example, list achievements/awards. In general, focus on crafting a very strong top third of your resume as the reader’s attention generally falls off rapidly as their eyes move down the page. A strong start will hopefully incentivize the reader to read through to the end.