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When writing a resume, some folks subscribe to a “spaghetti on the wall” philosophy — throw everything that you’ve got on it and see what sticks.
But to recruiters and hiring managers, it’s all about quality, not quantity. After all, with only about seven seconds to capture their attention, you want to make sure you get to the good stuff right away. Because of this, it’s probably a good idea to pare down your skills section from time to time.
Consider an artist’s portfolio, for example.
“Any serious practitioner will tell you that your portfolio is only has strong as its weakest piece. The same can be said of the skills you list on your resume — less is more,” says Aurora Meneghello, career coach and founder of Repurpose Your Purpose.
Wondering what exactly you should strike from your resume? Start with these seven items.
1. A language you only studied in high school
Sure, you took French in high school for a few years, but are you really at a level where you feel comfortable holding everyday conversations with native speakers, or reading in that language? If the answer is “no,” it doesn’t belong on your resume.
“It doesn’t matter that you have basic or intermediate understanding of a language. Unless you have mastery of it, and can actually use it for work, leave it out,” suggests Meneghello.
In a worst-case scenario, your recruiter or hiring manager could be fluent and try to engage you in conversation — if they call your bluff, you can bet that you won’t be invited to move forward in the hiring process.
2. Basic computer skills like email and Microsoft Word
At this point, listing “email” or “Microsoft Word” as skills is almost equivalent to listing “reading” or “basic math”. They’re not differentiators — they’re expected.
“By adding [these] as a skill, candidates may appear to be trying to add ‘fluff’ to their resume, i.e., that they are grasping for anything to include because they don’t have enough relevant skills to list out,” says Peter Riccio, Founding Partner of recruiting firm Atlas Search.
One exception to this would be if you’ve honed a very specific practice using these programs, such as “[creating] an access database from scratch and [importing] data from Excel and other databases,” says career coach Mary Warriner. “Now that is worth mentioning in your skills section.”
3. Social media (if you haven’t used it as part of your job)
Twitter.com
You might have thousands of Twitter followers, tons of Facebook friends and countless Instagram likes, but managing your personal brand and managing a company’s professional brand are two completely different things. Working in social media in a professional setting often requires much more than just posting engaging content — it often involves data analysis, experience with paid media and more.
“You may be awesome at posting pics of your friends and even sharing news about your current company; however, if you are not applying for a Social Media Strategist position, you shouldn’t mention your Facebook skills,” Warriner says. “Instead, review the job posting for the required skills and be sure to list the significant skills that you do possess.”
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
