At least once in our lifetime, we need to create a resume to apply for a job. But, when you don’t have enough experience, you end up trying to mention everything you know in the resume to make you look marketable. The problem is that those skills we put in our resumes may not be relevant for the position or any position at all, and the resume can just become bogged down with too much information and/or can become redundant.
A resume should be tailored to place emphasis on the skills and knowledge for a particular job but demonstrating that you could be a well-rounded applicant. For example, if you are applying for a job position as Oracle DBA, it is a good idea to demonstrate and clarify your experience with Oracle and give more details about the previous jobs using such database. Additionally, you can show that you are a well-rounded candidate if you describe knowledge on other popular DBMS’s like MS SQL Server, MySQL, etc. However, Microsoft Office or any other type of Office suit should be left out of your resume. This type of suite is expected for any type of position and if you include it, it looks that you don’t have anything else to put instead.
I recommend avoiding putting all the families or products like Windows.Mentioning in your resume that you know Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, etc is just a waste of time and space. Instead, show your knowledge in other operating systems like Linux.
There are several things that should be left out of a resume, and saved for the interview. For example, oral and written communication. Oral communication demonstrated personally at the interview, and when you speak on the phone to schedule the meeting. While written communication should be shown by the skills you used to write your resume and your cover letter.
Also, adding outdated technology may be useful only if the job requires it. For example, if you are applying for a job that is related with COBOL, then you definitely should include it. However, if the job only requires C# as a programming language and the company does not work with COBOL at all, don’t waste your time with COBOL.
Finally, do not put very personal information in your resumes. Your email and phone number should be enough for the potential employer at the moment. You never know where your personal information will end up. Adding social security numbers or any other personal information may increase the risk of identity theft.
