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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

things that don't belong on your resume #174

Another in our series of things that don't belong on your resume: information about where your kids attend college and what they're majoring in.

I don't even know what to say about this. But it seems clear that I might have to start traveling around the country in one of those vans outfitted with a megaphone and speakers so that I get more people's attention about job-searching do's and don'ts.

19 comments:

Henning Makholm said...

Okay, okay, I'll take them off. No need to shout.

But the list of my favorite songs stays!

missinlnk said...

Please...PLEASE tell me this was on only one person's resume and not multiple resumes. I mean, one lost soul in the whole mix of things I can understand. But multiple resumes means that multiple people had the thought that this was a good idea.

Ow. Just the thought of that makes my brain hurt.

Cosmic Noodles said...

WTF???

Anonymous said...

AAM, it's not April Fools' day yet!

Suzanne Lucas said...

I so love this. My oldest child is only 7, but can I list where I want her to go to college?

Also something not to put on your resume (as the very first, most important item, no less): Your high school basketball team.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Just wow.

Jamie said...

Well if you hit Chicago in your traveling advice van shoot me an email - I'll make sure to bring you some hot tea so you don't freeze to death while saving people from themselves.

And I will take my hobby of collecting penguin Christmas tchotchke off my resume should I ever be in the market for another job.

Charles said...

Maybe this is a desperate plea saying "hire me, 'cause I such high tuition bills to pay"!?

JenJen said...

OMG. People DO this? LOL!

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious! And some of the comments are even funnier! Thanks for the great laugh today!

Mike said...

Would you be willing to call and ask some of these folks why they felt this was needed? I can't for the life of me figure out why. A bad copy/paste from the family christmas letter perhaps?

Ask a Manager said...

I think it comes from feeling like they want to give employers a "full sense of who they are," and not understanding professional norms and boundaries between the professional and the personal!

Wilton Businessman said...

but shoe size is still appropriate, right?

Rebecca said...

I wonder if the intended message is "Look, I'm smart and put together enough to raise kids who are smart enough to go to college! Doncha wanna hire me?!"

... well, congrats, but actually, raising children and working a job are still two different things... in spite of what some mommybloggers or Caroline Kennedy may think.

Anonymous said...

Pictures please! I'm trying really hard to visualize where exactly you would put this information. Under "personal accomplishments of my personal accomplishment?"

Andy Lester said...

I didn't drive a van, I wrote a book.

Your frustration is also my frustration, and why there's a chapter in the book called "Too Much Information" which is exactly about this topic.

It's all about focus on what actually matters to the reader. People need to ask themselves about EVERY shred of information on the page "Does this help the manager do things better or faster?" If not, it probably ought to go. If your data point is "to give a sense of" something, it's probably crap.

JC said...

I think the only place that information should be placed is on a sperm/egg donor application.

"My son went to Harvard; my genetics are *SOLID GOLD* I tell you!"

Rachel - former HR blogger said...

No way! Awesome. I'm jealous. I wish it had come to me.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca, I think you hit the nail on the head - it's all about breeder entitlement! "Look how responsible and smart my zygotes are!" and "look how much I deserve this job because of my expenses!"