Resume Myths and Folklore: Longstanding Untruths that Can Derail the Most Successful Career

Resume Myths and Folklore: Longstanding Untruths that Can Derail the Most Successful Career

Resume myths and folklore put forth by otherwise intelligent people are everywhere. Hardly a day goes by where we don’t hear some old wives’ tale. Here are our favorites:

Bad Idea #1: “I think I should put my picture on my resume.” No, you should not because an HR department will discard a resume where the race, gender or appearance is evident – “unconscious bias” it’s called. Don’t do it!

Bad Idea #2: "I need a just one-page resume.” Maybe, if you’re a recent grad without a lot of practical experience to share. But if you’re not, two pages or more can be just fine depending on the volume of relevant work experience you have and the level at which you are employed (i.e., upper middle, senior leader, c-suite, etc.). Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don’t count pages.

Bad Idea #3: “I created a resume in Canva or using a template.” That may be fine and dandy, but the document may not index in an ATS if the document is an art project and cannot be read. Don’t risk your career prospects by creating a pretty picture.

Bad Idea #4: “I want a resume with icons, symbols, graphics, charts and graphs.” ATS systems don’t read or index graphic elements. Better safe than sorry—stick to key words and measurable achievements, which can improve how your document indexes in search mode.

Bad Idea #5: “I don’t want to show anything relative to where I am physically located.” Okay, but if an employer is searching a geographic radius around an address or zip code, not having either may mean you don’t come up in the search.

Bad Idea #6: “I don’t want LinkedIn because I don’t like social media.” Not an option. If you are serious about job search and business networking, you must have LinkedIn that is well done—not just a cut and paste of your resume.