6 things you should probably remove from your résumé

If you are worried about "gaps," don't use a chronological resume.  They are generally worthless anyway unless you have been continously employed.

Also, pictures and all that may eliminate the chance for discrimination.  However, even if you get the interview.  Employers are still human and may discriminate upon looking at you but still give you that interview to go through the motions.  For example, I applied for a teaching position in a private school.  On their website was a picture of chinese kids, white kids, Black kids, all mixes.  They called me in for an interview based on my full name.  It sounds black.  In any case, all the teachers were black and all the students were black and I was interviewed by six black teachers.  So they did discriminate because I was white but legally they are not allowed to show that on their website.  I should have known based on the religion section.  They were very religious and I am not but I thought I could still teach religion.  In any case, I learned later, that most black people are very religious so putting the religion on the website could have attracted Black employees.  They were not expecting me.

I don't agree with the gaps in history section.  Don't be cute or fancy and use "Homemaker Sabbatical".  You can just write "Homemaker", then explain the rest in a cover letter.  For example, state in the body of the cover letter: "I stayed home to raise my children.  However, now, I am eager to get back into the workforce and utilize my skills". Mention some of the skills you either gained in volunteer or has a homemaker.  Be honest is the most important thing, but like Roseanne Barr, she use to say "domestic goddes" etc, but avoid funny or cutesy phrases for being a stay at home mom.  I would say, own it and be proud of it and explain it with pride in your cover letter, but don't oversell.  Then mention you need a change now and someone to give you that opportunity.

It is amusing that Johnb23456 would resort to name calling over a grammatical error while being more guilty of not correctly identifying the source as a "comment" by Rebecca instead of the author. Really, who is the "dolt"?

Fix My Résumé is professional resume writing service located in Brisbane, owned and operated by Shaun Michels, dedicated to sharing knowledge and increasing awareness about recruitment processes and resume writing requirements with Australian job seekers. http://www.fixmyresume.com.au

Extensive research shows us that submitting 3 Letters of Recommendation (best in person) improves anyone's chance at securing the job offered.  Try for yourself and let us know.

I have to believe that these suggestions apply mostly to high paying salary jobs or specific careers such as advertising or executive positions. Why? Because 98% of the jobs I have appplied to in the last 2 months are not satisfied with just a resume. They re-direct me to their website where I have to fill out their application which will not let you proceed until you fill in the mandatory spaces such as dates of work and date of graduation, supervisor's names,even some wanting the last 5 jobs even though you have been at one for 15 years. That said, I have also encountered two companies that ask your age...because it's online or at their company computer application they feel they can get away with it.  When I contacted a lawyer regarding this I was told that companies can pretty much ask whatever they want nowadays re dates and age.   The discrimination part only comes into play when you feel you didn't get the job because of age discrimination and try proving that ! Almost all want it over the computer and that's their cover-up. Who knows what they look at or why they ditch a few. Even the State and federal jobs ask even more detailed questions.

I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. Youve ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye

I have a question regarding 5. Gaps in history. I have a 3 year gap between jobs simply because I immigrated to another country. During said gap I studied and was able to finish a couple of diploma courses. What is the best way to explain that is my resume. Thanks.

I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I'm quite certain I will learn plenty of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

Thsi is probably a minor inquiry, but I am curious as to people's opinions on this. What if you've moved around a lot? I've lived in many different cities and my resume (until recently) showed all the locations of prior employers (city/state)--in a nutshell, I've been all over the map. Personally, I don't feel that's anybody's business as to WHY I've moved around so much, it's just been in my exploratory nature to live in different places. Would an employer look at this as odd? Recently, I took off the "city/state" where the past employers are located on my resume, and I'd like to know if anybody thinks that is a big deal for a prospective employer. All companies are legit--I didnt make anything up about past employment.(I feel I can always fill in the location information when I fill out the job application, if granted an interview). It always seems you have to fit a conventional mold to get an interview--"stay in the same field for a long time, live in the same city, have 2.4 kids, be a company man"--all that bullshit--I wish emplioyers would realize that the world just isn't like that--

The State Of Jobs In West Sussex

'Recession Proof' Jobs in West Sussex

Finally the phrase all of us believed was coming has arrived, 'Recession'. For the previous few months the word has been intentionally avoided however leading economists and even the Bank of England have finally admitted that recession is on its way. Not a large surprise with most of the basic public seeming to consider we're already in one.

So it's all doom and gloom now and nobody's job is safe right? Not so. A few of West Sussex's residents want worry less. Traditionally some jobs have confirmed to be 'Recession Resistant' but which jobs are they? Basically they're jobs in organisations that provide goods and providers that remain a necessity whilst we tighten our belts. The areas thought of to be reasonably safe include:

o Education - Children don't cease developing as the market shrinks and don't cease requiring an education. West Sussex's numerous colleges, faculties and Universities including Chichester Faculty and The college of Chichester are nonetheless keenly recruiting. Instructional establishments also require administrative, catering and different support staff. Academic jobs in West Sussex ought to remain secure.

o Public Sector - Authorities is a definite constant during a recession. Our towns, cities and country should continue to go on providing providers and making sure things carries on heedless. The Chichester District Council and The West Sussex County Council still need a large array of workers so public sector jobs in West Sussex should beat the recession.

o Security - Sadly, crime doesn't cease during a recession (in reality, although I am unable to declare to know the statistics, there are clearly related monetary factors which may increase it!) We are fortunate in West Sussex to have a relatively low crime fee but we nonetheless want our protecting companies such The West Sussex Police. They also require their help workers so these with safety jobs in West Sussex have a lesser have to worry.

o Healthcare and Prescription drugs - Illness and injury still happen during a recession. In Chichester it is honest to say that now we have an ageing inhabitants due maybe to the standard of life we're fortunate sufficient to obtain here. (So lengthy as St Richards Hospital stays open!) hospital staff, GPs, ambulance staff, nursing and care employees are still in demand so Healthcare jobs in West Sussex needs to be quite safe.

o Energy Firms - We could all develop into a bit extra acutely aware of our energy outgoings as part of our belt tightening however we continue to have an enormous for gasoline and electricity and that is unlikely diminish. Chichester businesses and homes will still require Southern Electrical, British Fuel and the wish to keep us running so these working for energy corporations similar to engineers and customer providers in West Sussex ought to consider their jobs secure.

o Environmental Sector - In West Sussex, as with every different metropolis, our council seems dedicated to improving our 'Greeness'. It is a sentiment additionally taken up by businesses and it's unlikely to be halted during the coming recession. There'll nonetheless be a need for 'Inexperienced' consultants and engineers in West Sussex in the coming months.

o Gross sales and Marketing - This isn't an area you may count on to be safe however historically and logically anything which makes or saves a company cash is more probably to be safe. It is barely dependant on the strategy and outlook of the business in specific however gross sales jobs and marketing jobs in West Sussex may be safe.

o Funeral Administrators - Sorry to finish on a morbid note however to use the outdated saying 'the one certainties in life are loss of life and taxes'!

Nervous that your employment may be in danger? Unfortunately there are some struggling industries including building, housing and finance and the strongest recommendation I can give you is to make sure your CV is up to scratch do you may have to find yourself in the unlucky state of affairs and it's essential to enter the competitive job market. Additionally make positive you find a very good job board comparable to chichester jobs to keep you updated with the most recent jobs in West Sussex.

Richard Blackburn is a recruitment professional having spent the final 7 years working as a Recruitment Advisor, hi is Content material Editor for jobs in west sussex

This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives in depth information. thanks for this nice article.

Thank you for all the advice! I agree totally about information being formatted on FB to fit you as you truly are because I have had two potential employers look for me on FB before they offered me the job.

Not to be rude but I am only accepting resume advice from employers. They should tell us what our resume should include for each particular job since they want anyone filling out a standard uniform application. I've seen want ads requesting picture, salary requirements etc. I remember when it was a "sin" to ask how much the job paid. Now they want to know how much do we think we are worth? As far as my potential employer stalking me on social networking sites... Don't tell me to come to work professionally but go digging through my $ocial life. If my job does not require "social me" to be there what are you looking for her for? Furthermore in order to view my social network profile they'd have to be synced to the same network, right? So whats on their page???

Regarding, only including job history for the past 10-15 years, what should you do if you were at your first job for 18 years and the second job for 8 years? Are you saying lie about the amount of time you worked at each place?

I hire people and I can tell you that the most important part of an interview is to hire people that not only work well with the existing employees, but also offer something additional to the team. Personality conflicts are the quickest way to lose employees. So if its an important aspect of your life (i.e. church, political involvement), put it on your resume. Sure if you are too radical, you will get turned down by some employers. But too radical could be too conservative or too liberal.

You want to impress me on a resume? Make sure your spelling is correct. Keep it up beat and positive. Keep out the technical jargon, but still be informative.

You want to impress me in an interview? Answer questions with complete sentences, not just yes or no. Have a sense of humor. Be honest, but not rude. Saying your previous boss was an idiot might be true, but won't get you the job. Saying that you had a difference of opinion or objectives is more diplomatic and interesting.

As for age, let experience work for you. I've hired from 18 to 80 and have had good workers from every age, and bad ones too. Ironically, its my younger staff that has asked me to hire more older employees. People they can look up to and learn from.

Since a resume is only one page and you only have about 30 seconds to get someone interested i you, it's probably more helpful to focus on what few things SHOULD be included on one's resume. The first thing you should do is put your resume aside and look at the job description. Extract all of their key words and buzz phrases. The only thing that matters to them is what they THINK matters. There is little logic to this process. Rank your list of those of those 20-50 words and phrases and rank them according to their relative dollar value. For example, graphic design is going to be more valuable than typing. Then go back to your resume and use those high dollar skills to describe the jobs you've had. Parrot back your responsibilities as closely as you can to their job description. Those low-value skills at the bottom may be dropped. Avoid the temptation to repeat skills in other jobs. All this does is waste precious space. I agree wit the author, avoid volunteer work unless it is necessary to demonstrate a skill listed by the employer. Otherwise you WILL be discriminated against, if for no other reason than employers resent the fact you have free time to do charitable work. Employers today feel they own you 24/7. Most people SHOULD include a good headshot on your resume. Why? Because it makes you stand out and saves you the brain damage of showing up in person for an interview only to be discriminated against because they don't like your look. If you are an older worker, you need to get over the fact our society is biased toward youth and beauty if you want a job. Get rid of the grey hair and take all reasonable steps to keep yourself looking as close to the "ideal" of 35. Finally, avoid the temptation to publish your life on the Internet. If you have one of these social networking pages, lock it up tight, but remember employers often demand to have a password as a condition of pre-employment screening. Many now ask for this information on job applications. Your best bet is not to go there in the first place. Remember, the process of job applicant screening is primarily directed at looking for reasons NOT to hire someone. Finally, before you go to all of the trouble to do a custom resume, I.D. the decision maker. Sending your resume to Human Resources is about as useful as throwing your resume in the trash. If you can, get the decision maker on the phone and probe for their specific hot buttons and speak to those in your resume and cover letter first.

am i missing something? many similar articles suggest omiting info such as age, photos, personal status like married, children etc. because employers fear accusations of discrimination yet in the same breath suggest that many employers are now checking social websites such as facebook where they will gather the same info. and can they really check those websites? well i guess it depends on privacy settings.

Who makes all these rules on resumes? Their all virtually different. One page, two pages, keyword type, no keywords, etc... I would almost rather have a debate about religion and politics than reading articles on resumes. I'm 42 and have always wanted to build homes. Growing up, being in a in trade group, organization was just as good as attending college. Some parents thought my path was the better path. I decided to follow my passion and left college after 2 semesters to follow my dreams. I have done everything to learn my craft and continue to learn every single day.

I've had my own company which was very successful. I interviewed and was offered the position of VP of Operations with a once large, privately held builder due to my skills, experience, reputation and willingness to keep learning. I even became the COO of another company; without a degree.

Someone must have been asleep at the wheel more than once, right? I did not have a nice piece of embossed paper, in a nice picture frame to hang on the wall. What does this tell you experts?

I"m back in the hunt after an 10 year relationship with my former employer. Here's what I'll do starting today; write my resume on a piece of drywall or OSB and hand it to you career coaches, HR guru's, recruiting experts et al. Let me know if the edges are too rough for your manicured hands. I'll smooth the edges and then whack you over the head with it!

I agree with most of this. My resume is without dates, and I don't usually include volunteer activities unless they have relevance to the job I am applying for. I am a college student and I work full time but am looking for better employment. I am 46 years old and I can agree that employers do discriminate when it comes to age. I raised a family and then decided to go back to school. It has been difficult to say the least. My hope is that when I graduate, I will be able to find something in my chosen field. My advice to all the twenty somethings out there is get your education now.

So is there a problem with gray or balding people?

I appreciate all of your comments. I feel better about my future knowing that the advice I have been given is pretty much what I have been doing. I just finished the OSHA 30 Hr course this week and I am taking the forklift certification training in a few weeks. After the summer it usually slows down at my work and I go down to 40-45 hrs. I was thinking about getting a weekend job at an oil change place or parts store or something to keep my auto experience relevant. I have socked away a months worth of income into savings and I'm on the path to being totally debt free within 2 years. I will be in better shape then. I appreciate everyones positive reinforcement it means a lot. Thanks

Thanks for the comments

I agree about graduation dates. I have been turned down at a number of interviews for the sole fact that they said "i did not have enough PAID experience". why is that such a big deal if i JUST graduated college? duh, of course i won't have a lot of paid experience yet

I have two question for someone who can answer this one:
1) When I was single a few years ago I had plenty of time on my hands and as a consequence I created quite a litlte nest egg for myself that I used to buy my dream home. I had a day job that paid well, plus I had a job a part-time job at night (next door to my employer). I also had a job on Saturday mornings doing some part-time work.
2) I worked 15 years in social work which is mostly funded by grants. Grants naturally reach their term and are either extended or cancelled. No fault of my
own. . .
Issue No. 1) When one looks at my Resume, at first glance it appears that I was jumping around from job to job, when in fact, I had many jobs that were simultabeous employments. I include them all because they are contribute directly to my work experience being relevant to my field. This should be viewed as extra experience, or enhanced experience. My Resume gets placed aside or thrown away without careful scrutiny because it looks very busy. They don;t look at the dates to see that they were not all individual jobs, but I had several jobs at a time. Like I said, I no longer do this (my husband would strangle me) but as a single peson I was saving money for a home. This worked out really well. When can I do with this reagrd not looking like I've been jumping around?
Issue No. 2) Grants terminate through no fault of my own. Furthermore, legislators are always cutting programs. We've all heard of this on the news. Again, I have no control over this. . .Again, this makes it look like I have been jumping around when in fact, grants came to term, and the government cut programs so I HAD TO LOOK FOR OTHER WORK. How canI state this in a cverletter so that they will continue to the Resume, and not "ASSUME" or read into it before careful scrutiny????? HELP! Need suggestions.
Little Therese

Ditto! I wouldn't want to work for someone who did not want me working for them because I am involved with my church. As a social worker and Christian counselor, I devised a Christian Parenting Program using both my knowledge of secular parenting and my theological studies in spiritual direction. Even most social welfare agencies don't see this as a plus, but a detriment. Why? Because nowadays social workers have to give parenting to gay and lesbian partners; therefore, they prefer not to hire anyone with specific views on gay marriage, etc. I personally, would not want to work with an agency that promoted parenting classes to lesbian or gay couples. Nor one that places children in foster homes where they will be taught that lesbian and guy cohabitation is acceptable. Yes, Christians have a duty to uphold the TRUTH! My placing a foster child in such an environment would tarnish his/er perception of what God intended with marriage. After all, marriage was instituted by God, not created by man. Nowadays I only get calls from persons who share my principals.

I'm in my late 40's and I'm changing my career from Adm. Assistant to Pastry Chef. Is this smart? I'm planning to attend a culinary school next year in the spring. How do I change my resume from Adm. Assistant to Pastry Chef? or should I improve my existing skills? Your help and advise is greatly appreciated.

Hey,
I am the same age as you. I know you want to hear from older people but let me say this at least...

education is the way out. you'll gain new and permenant skills which keeps you "updated".

From what you mention, you are a hard working and smart fellow looking into the future. Keep working, where it doesn't matter. but study at night, get to a university or at least another vocational. (but try for community college, then transfer) and alot of worries will go away. Financing school might require financial aid, but it's all good.

you can do it man. study and you will rise. it's good you got hands on experience with auto industry now. For example if you study business and apply that and your auto experience, you'll have a fighting chance at staying in that industry.

But I have a feeling you already know what you gotta do...

good luck brother.

Wow-I disagree with almost all of these, with qualifications. 1) Unfortunately age discrimination is a fact of life. If you leave your graduation dates off it's like a giant red flag that you don't want that known and the logical conclusion is age. Not including it makes an applicant look like they are deceptive or take the reviewer for a fool. I threw away dozens of resumes for this reason. Even if your resume makes it to the second more detailed read this omission will speak loudly and fail to obfuscate anything. Your level of experience and prior positions usually will speak to your age, regardless. And Randy, I would never leave out any relevant education but be prepared with a good explanation for why you didn't complete your degree. 2) I do agree that less relevant job experience should be altered to make accomplishments speak to the job your applying for, but I don't think you should downplay so much that you appear unproductive or worse yet create a gap. I agree with the Last Unemployed MBA do not short change your experience even if seeminglyh irrelavant to the job. Less than a month ago I applied to a job and in response I got offered another job, with better terms, that wasn't even advertised. You never know. 3) Back to the age thing again, huh. While overly long resumes hit the trash pile faster than the eye can take it all in, this is too much of a blanket statement. If you have been around awhile and even if you're still "young" chances are you WILL switch careers in your lifetime and often the most relevant experience for your new job comes from skills acquired a long time ago. The key here is to be STRATEGIC about what you include and how. This commentary seems to focus on chronological resumes but for career/position switchers thinking more along functional lines might be far more relevant, particularly in this economy where many may find themselves applying to positions they never would have contemplated just a few short years ago. 4) True I haven't seen a personal section in a resume of anyone for over 2 decades and I would only recommend them for new graduates, where clubs and other activities can often highlight qualities that a lack of work experience do not. Rather than eliminate this information all together, work it into your resume more strategically. If you have volunteered during a work hiatus I'd include it directly in the experience section along with your jobs. Affilitations can be listed in their own section if they bolster your professional qualifications or speak to some skill or experience the job calls for or might be useful. As for including religious or political items I would hope people would do their homework on a place before applying, so that you will know whether you are a good fit for the organization or not. That will help you determine what to include and what to omit. If you have some responsibility or received recognition for service and it addresses the job qualifications WHY on earth would you leave that out? If you are the long time treasurer for an organization and applying to a position valuing fiscal responsibility I don't see why not. Personal info such as marital status and children, race, etc... indeed do not need to be included(unless your prospective employer is not bound by US regulations and asks for them-see bleow). 5) Some ideas for covering gaps in history were mentioned above: volunteer work, organizational involvement, and best of all a functional emphasis resume, of which many styles exist, including combo chrono-functional. But HONESTLY if someone wrote some pap like 'Homemaker Sabbatical' I'd roll my eyes and toss the sucker-unless they were applying for a job as satirical sitcome writer or something. Don't treat the reviewer like an idiot, polite society might like PC terms like vertically challenged, but in real life when the reviewer has noone to prove him/herself to and doesn't have to worry about litigation this just sounds stupid and ridiculous. If the gap is recent and you are getting back into the work force why not address that briefly and confidently in your cover letter. If the gap is a year or less you could dimunize it by listing years only in dates, omitting months. If you've worked for several years after a gap then that shows that you were able to gain employment and hopefully grow professionally and I don't think is as bad as made out to be. 6) Agreed, Photos pretty much seem corny to me and most of time people really err in their choices. One lady seemed more than pleased with her cleavage, one male applicant seemed so enamored with his vintage vehicle hobby that neither I nor the other reviewer could get past the pic, and worst of all someone I trained choose to include her photo, against my advice, and when she went in for the interview the interviewer's first remark was that she was much older looking in person than in the pic. Needless to say she didn't get the job and I told her they probably felt she was deceptive and untrustworthy. Ms. Jewell here seems fixated on old age in this blog. Let's face it people while you don't need to advertise your grays, your age will come through somehow and eventually. If you make it to the interview, you won't be able to hide time, no matter how much Botox you had the week before. The new reality is and will only continue to be that Baby Boomers are competing with new grads, and more so with many unable to retire. Both have their +'s and -'s. The market is unlike anything it's been just about ever, so we might as well accept what is. I personally tried to hire a mix of ages and genders and orientations because each brings stengths and I've worked in outfits where certain types dominated and always found that in the end it created serious weakness. Consider this, many younguns are blatantly discriminated against because they don't have the required years of experience and it's perfectly legal for employers to list years of experience wanted on job adds and to refuse applicants solely on that basis. Most of us have been in that catch22 where you can't get the job due to lack of experience but you can't gain experience for lack of a job. Older workers will have to get more creative about showing how flexible, skills-diverse and uptodate they are. Networking can help overcome both of these.

Finally, something completely neglected in this and most articles about resumes is the fact that, like the metric system, most of the world doesn't follow the US style of resumes and opts for the CV, something most Americans have never heard of but is increasingly more relevant for job seekers. While American jobs have gone overseas, so have many American workers. An off the top count comes up with 10 people I know who either work overseas, have a spouse working overseas, or are seeking overseas opportunities and 30 seconds more of consideration pops up a dozen friends and folk who interact significantly internationally and would have occasion to have a CV prepped. If you, like a growing numbers of 'mericans, are looking to take up more lucrative offers abroad you'd better scrap just about everything in this blog and be prepared for the international CV and job requirements. In this world arena there are few US style rules to hinder future employers from discriminating based on age, sex, marital or child status. Many job adds will announce openly their preferences and often require a pic, even US organizations operating abroad sometimes do this in order to keep uniform with local practices.

A CV will be pages and pages long delving far into your past, include all kinds of details otherwise irrelevant, including university research or hobbies, and most certainly date of birth! No way to finagle the age. There has been some fusing of the two styles toward a compromise document, but US folk are usually unprepared for the world out there. And even if you don't plan on working overseas, if your company sends you or an opportunity arises you ought to become familiar with the full life curriculum. You might find your resume paltry compared to the lengthy ones your cohorts submit; such as my friend found out an international accounting conference where he was speaking, when the organizers asked for his CV and basically rejected his resume as not exhibiting enough prestige and asked him to send a full-lenght version. It might be nice to note that a 'resume' basically means a summary. If you know any academics or medical professionals ask them for a look at theirs, because those fields tend to be quite different and inclusion of research accomplishments, accolades, and papers are common place.

All in all this article seems to fall into the list trap that passes for journalism these days. It attempts to dilute a complex tasks into a soundbite of info. If resume writing were so easy then there certainly wouldn't be such a plethora of advice articles trying to simplify it and professional resume writers would be out of some income. If it were so facile, certainly Ms. Jewell would not find as much market for her talents. Writing a resume is hard work, a task we are rarely trained for in school or the workplace. I believe writing a resume and the job hunt IS a job in and of itself, one that requires effort. Thankfully today we have computers and cut and paste so we can create a new resume for every job application by tweeking minorly or majorly our base. I have a running CV where I add tidbits all the time. Sometimes I think of some part of a job that I had neglected and I insert it, or I come up with short lists of key words and skills I might want to include for various career tracks and paste that in. Other times I suddenly remember I worked somewhere or accomplished something or received an award and I had totally blanked it out and I add that. I also use it as a place to document all of my professional accomplishments. Often over time we forget a task or project well done even if we have invested lots of time and effort and are proud of our accomplishment. The running CV is a great place to note this all down for future recall. Since the average American holds more jobs and switches careers more in a lifetime than ever, having this database CV is a good way to keep up with "the shift from lifelong employment to lifetime job search" (Kent Burns).

The REALLY hard part though is writing a worthwhile and effective covering letter!

That's awesome that you wouldn't want to work for me, because we wouldn't want to hire you with evidence of an imaginary friend on your resume'. Religion is a crutch for the weak minded, and putting that out there as a professional is a recipe for unemployment.

I would strongly suggest taking night classes, just one at a time so that you do well and don't over stress yourself, maybe even online classes. One of my friends just turned 34 this year and he never attended college, now hes finding that he has to compete with people that have BA degrees or higher. Also with this economy everyone is going back to school so by the time you need to change professions you may be competing with people who have masters degrees. Also, it never hurts to have a fall back profession.

What suggestions do you recommend when you graduated having worked only for 3 months after having medical and major surgery write on their resume? Also, is it innapropriate to list all of the colleges you have attended and what fields you studied or is this imperentent? Due to my injury I cannot sit or stand in one place for a long time "meaning I need to get up and move around"; not to mention every time I have asked for a telecommunicating position they want to know why? Isn't that illegal also b/c it is stating your disabiity or age? I am under 40 and just had a total hip replacemnt so I cannot wear heels to work. I am just; trying to get ready to re-do my resume so if I could work from home during recovery I would. If anyone has suggestions please let me know. Being on Disabily has some benefits, but not a lot unfortuanately. Also does the one page rule still exist with a cover letter attached? My last job that was full time was in 1996 before I decided to attend school and then went to multiple schools but I have obtained many; and a published author, amongst other tings.

Your suggestions will be helpful.
Thank you for your time.

Wemdy Webster

I am unsure you will get this, so I would like a response and then Ill share with you what you can do to improve all chances in your favor.
BG

It is against the law for employers to discriminate against applicants on the basis of age. period. This is just the same as discriminating against someone because he or she is African American, Hispanic, Asian, female, disabled, etc. It is against the law, federal law. If you think the author of this article is doing job seekers any favors by perpetuating evasive tactics for this blatant age bias, you are wrong. Any job applicant who believes he or she has been discriminated against solely on the basis of age should report the potential employer to the E.O.C. This is going to end up being a huge problem for a lot of employers who have been getting away with this, because as the job market becomes more critical, the lawsuits are going to increase. Employers take note: if you discriminate based on age, you are risking a great deal. As long as the applicant is capable of doing the work and has the proper qualifications, being "greying" or "balding" should not even begin to enter into the equation. Shame on the writer of this article who purports to be offering "advice". My advice to you is to not take blatant age discrimination lying down. If you think it;s happening to you, report it. If enough qualified candidates do this, the discrimination will stop. Employers think they can hire younger, less experienced workers for far less money and save on the bottom line. Should we also allow these same employers to tacitly specify "whites only"?

I don't agree with #1 and I'm over 40!

1. Leaving off the date makes it look like you "took classes" but never completed the degree.

2. Leaving off the date makes it look like you're trying to hide your age.

re: Randy's question.

I think you should only list degrees you've completed. I wouldn't mention a college I attended but didn't graduate from.