A resume or CV is something that I think is always evolving. It seems like there are always new templates to follow and employment responsibilities are always changing so keeping a resume up-to-date is very important. However, what to leave off a resume is just as important.

Linday Olson put together a great list of top things that should be left off a resume. She lists some things that I have to admit were found on my resume (until I deleted them after reading this post) so reviewing this information if important. At least I hope I am not the only person to have unimportant information listed. Here are the things she specifically mentioned to strike:

• Funny Email Addresses – I thought this was a given but apparently not everyone got the memo when it was sent out years ago.
• An objective – I had one of these on my resume’s for a long time and I always had difficulty putting something useful there. Someone told me to use that space to talk about how I am going to help the company but as a newbie in the field that was always hard to put into words. Lindsay makes it clear that nothing along the lines of “What do you want from the company” should be included.
• Forgetting a phone number. I could not believe it either but she did a little research and the results were jaw-dropping.
• Reasons why you left – My guess is the employer will want to know during an interview, if they want to know at all.
• Photos – I have never even thought to put a photo on a resume but it does happen. As a matter of fact, someone interviewed for a position at my office and included a photo.  I thought it was strange and about a month later I read this post making it clear that photos should not be included.

Along the same lines of what not to put on a resume, there are also things done in an interview that can guarantee you will not get any further than a hand-shake on the way out the door. Career Hub did a great post discussing 10 ways you stop yourself from getting the right job. I am not going to include all 10 things because I think you should venture over their site and take in all their great information. Instead I am going to highlight a few of their statements that I think were particularly enlightening.

• “If you’re not getting rejected, you’re not making progress.” This is mentioned under Fear and I think it hits the nail head on. Failure can be really difficult to grasp but if you are able to embrace that failure then you are more likely to learn from your mistakes. Failing only leads to learning.
• “80% of success in job searching is about successful follow-up.” Being organized is a hard task for me (only at home but that is where my job searches usually take place) so remembering who and when I had contacted a potential employers was a little out of control. I finally put everything into a spreadsheet and life become easier. I was able to keep track of all correspondence and I even set up a time line so that I could identify what days I needed to send things to those employers, and this included follow-up.
• “But relying on one (or two) opportunities is very dangerous in a tight market.” How true is this. I am comfortable in my position right now so I have not worried over this as much as others. However, my Dad and little brother just lost their job after having a ‘guarantee’ from their boss. On the same topic, I would advise that you don’t spread yourself too thin. Don’t take on so many interviews or take on so much at work (in the hope that taking on tasks will guarantee job safety) that you are stressed about everything.

The post in CareerHub discussed quite a bit about having a positive attitude while in a volitile economy. Lindsey Pollak put together 11 new tips on getting a job in a bad economy that I thought were particularly interesting. Lindsey is a terrific writer so definitely check out her blog. In the meantime, among those new tips were

• Move your desk – I live in a cube and our office is under construction so I don’t see this happening.
• Learn sports – I am proud to say that I can hang with the guys when talking football. As a matter of fact, I frequently discuss the topic of football during the daily visit from my co-worker, Jarod. He is like my smoke-break.
• Volunteer – I think this should be done regardless of your current work situation. Make some time and give to others.
• Finish your fluency – Or maybe even begin to learn that second language. You never know when you might need it. Si?

There are several others but again, you should visit her blog to read all of her great tips.

I know I learned a tip or two from reading these blogs. What was the most enlightening point you gathered from these three great posts?