Did you know there are subtle signs of your age just by looking at your resume? There are the obvious signs, like stating you graduated college in the 70’s (we now drop the graduation date when it’s more than 5 years old.) But there are a few other things you may not have thought of, such as:
1. Listing more than one telephone number on your resume. Crazy isn’t it? But new research is indicating that more and more people under the age of 30 no longer have a land line. So only list one phone number (the one most likely to be answered) on your resume.
2. Dates in the wrong place. Years ago we listed dates on the left side of the page. Today dates go on the right. That’s where computer readers search for them too.
3. Insisting that a resume needs to be only a page. With today’s computer readers, length is not as important as keywords. Although I don’t advocate going beyond two pages. No one reads that far anymore.
4. Not listing computer skills. And if you do list computer skills, dump the ones that are out of date, like Fortran, COBOL, BASIC. That will make you look like a dinosaur.
5. Listing your high school education. Whether you went on to college or not, don’t put high school information on your resume unless you are 18 years old and searching for your first job.
Ideally you don’t want to go back more than 15 years on a resume. Some people can’t help it though. These are the folks who worked for the same company their whole life. And there is nothing wrong with that. Loyalty goes a long way in business.