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Resume Mistakes to Avoid

MSNBC Contributor

You have about 15 seconds to make an impression with your resume. That’s about the amount of time recruiters and hiring managers say they spend with each job seeker’s resume, given the tidal wave of applicants for open positions these days.

As a result, any glaring mistakes can land your resume in the trash bin.

“The wow factor isn’t as important as being precise,” said Ryan Carfley, President and CEO of recruiting firm MRINetwork Personify. But, he added, “even though hiring managers are inundated, you have to stand out, and the only way to do that is with precise examples of achievements, and do it quickly.”

Here’s a rundown of six resume mistakes you’ll want to avoid:

1. Being too vague
One big resume no-no is not getting to the meat of the matter, notes Pennell Locey, a senior consultant at career management and consulting firm Keystone Associates.

This includes focusing only on job responsibilities in your resume and not including specific accomplishments. You’ll get extra minus points for actually using the phrase “responsibilities included,” said Locey.

“A recruiter once told me that [the] phrase immediately raises suspicion, since it can be used as a dodge when you were supposed to deliver something [and] actually didn’t.”

Locey suggests asking yourself what your major accomplishments were, and what you did that made a difference for your employer.

She offers some alternative phrases, such as “streamlined/ initiated a process,” or “maintained compliance at 100%,” or “participated in a fund-raising campaign that delivered X% over plan,” or perhaps “increased website traffic by X%.”

MRINetwork’s Carfley likes to see dollar signs.

The best way to catch a hiring manager’s attention, he said, is to provide something measurable. Don’t say “led the organization in sales.” Instead, say, “Grew revenues from $500,000 to $1 million,” or “reduced project cycle time by two months, saving the company roughly $200,000.”

2. Ignoring the Cyber Age
Many people still look at resumes the same way they did 20 years ago, but with so much communication taking place online these days you have to make your resume tech savvy, experts say.

“Nowadays, since everything is electronic, and electronic ‘contact’ is the first contact you have with HR, headhunters or a corporation, one of the biggest mistakes a person can make is not to include the right keywords for the position you’re applying for, or want,” said Kiki Weingarten, cofounder of career consulting company Atypical Coaching.

She suggests scanning the ads for industries and positions you’re looking into and find the words that are repeated. Those words are a good bet because you can be sure a hiring manager is looking out for them, Weingarten said.

You don’t want to go cyber crazy, though, and go for cyber gimmicks, added Holly Paul, national recruiting leader for Pricewaterhousecoopers. She advises job applicants not to use “emoticons [smiley faces], text message abbreviations or excessive exclamation points.”

Another faux pas is not thinking of what you name your resume document file. If it’s just called “resume,” rename the file to include your name if possible so that a hiring manager can find it easily.

3. Every job but the kitchen sink
In this economy, there’s a good chance a long-term job seeker has a part-time job (or jobs) under his or her belt just to make ends meet. But that doesn’t mean you should include every burger flipping, or retail-selling job you’ve had. Putting too many of those jobs on your resume, especially if they have nothing to do with the job you want, can hurt your chances of landing a new position.

“Resumes are a summary of the most important data,” said Debra Feldman, a job search expert known as the JobWhiz. “In my opinion, a part-time job just to pay the bills would not fall into that category.

“I think if the skills or accomplishments are relevant, then by all means if there is space and it enhances the content, include these achievements,” she added.

However, if you can connect your experience on the sales floor of a home-improvement store to the job you want, then great. I’ve known many high level executives who felt their time on the retail floor, or working behind a counter, helped them better understand how a company worked.

4. Not being your own cheerleader
One of the biggest resume mistakes is “underselling your role or accomplishments,” said Keystone’s Locey.

Job applicants, she continued, “are often worried about appearing to inflate their experiences, or taking credit for something that others also participated in; they often actually under-represent their accomplishments.”

While you don’t want to lay claim to more than you did, “you do want to claim your accomplishments, and make it clear what you actually did,” Locey explained.

So, she advises taking out terms such as “co-led”, “co-created” or similar phrases used multiple times just to show others worked on the same projects as you. And don’t use “assisted”, “supported” or “participated in,” she added. Say what your role on the team actually involved.

Locey said you should ask yourself the following questions:

  • Did I design and deliver a new project in partnership with line managers? What did I do, what was my role?
  • Was my role on the team to track team milestones and ensure the project was on budget/schedule? “Reflect that in what you write in the resume,” she stressed. “It’s more memorable and brings you to life for the reviewer.”

5. Being “cookie-cutter”
I know it’s a pain to tailor every resume to every new job, but if you really want a gig it may be worth the extra work.

Nick Vaidya, managing partner of The 8020Strategy Group, a consulting firm, is sick of seeing the same old, same old.

“I get exasperated looking at resume after resume that talks about what [an applicant] does, or has done,” Vaidya said. “After a while all of the candidates start looking like white penguins on snow. I want the [person] who understands what I need and tailors his or her resume accordingly. I want the yellow penguin.”

And Vaidya downright hates career objectives on resumes, especially if they are “banal and devoid of all ingenuity, integrity and meaning.”

(The best way to provide these three objectives is to simply read the job description and write a resume directed to that, he said.)

6. Forgetting the basics
“Resume mistakes have become smaller and more important with the level of competition out there,” said Steve Langerud, director of professional opportunities at DePauw University and workplace consultant. That’s why you can’t forget the basics when it comes to resume writing.

As a refresher, Langerud offered a list of the basic resume blunders he hears about most often from hiring managers at companies:

  • Poor spelling.
  • Incorrect address or phone number.
  • Font too small to read.
  • Crazy formatting.

“While simplistic, the most effective resumes lead a reader through the material like a good book or magazine article,” Langerud explained. “Every time you change the format with spaces, new fonts, etc., you focus the reader on the format change and away from the content. Keep it simple.”

And Lynne Sarikas, Director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University, has her own list of basic things not to include on your resume:

  • Marital status
  • Number of kids
  • Year of graduation (unless it’s recent)
  • Your GPA (unless it’s over 3.7)
  • Your age, a photo and, above all else, lies.

“So much can be verified easily these days,” she said. “If you stretch the truth or embellish it you can quickly be eliminated from consideration.”

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Mobile Phone Access Varies Widely in Sub-Saharan Africa; South Africa Leads

This is the first of two articles that examine access to information and communications technology in sub-Saharan Africa.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Fifty-seven percent of the adult population — or more than an estimated 151 million people — have mobile phones across the 17 countries Gallup surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. The percentage of adults with mobile phones ranges from a high of 84% in South Africa to a low of 16% in Central African Republic, signaling the potential for tremendous growth in the industry on the sub-continent.

Mobile telephone subscriptions have grown faster in Africa than in any other region in the world since 2003, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Mobile phone adoption rates have soared in countries such as South Africa, where Gallup surveys show more than 8 in 10 adults now say they personally have mobile phones. But penetration still remains relatively low in several countries where adoption rates have been more sluggish, including Burkina Faso (19%), Niger (18%), and the Central African Republic (16%).

Mobile Phone Owners More Likely to Be Male, Older Than 18

The average mobile phone owner in the 17 sub-Saharan countries is more likely to be male (62%) than female (52%) and older than 18. Those between the ages of 15 and 18, and arguably with the least spending power, are less likely to say they have mobile phones than older adults. On average, 40% of 15- to 18-year-olds in these sub-Saharan African countries have mobile phones, but the percentage climbs to 63% among those aged 19 to 29 and remains higher than 60% for those between the ages of 30 and 45. Ownership drops off after that, with 51% of those 46 and older saying they have mobile phones.

he average mobile phone owner is also more likely to be educated. Across the 17 countries surveyed, 75% of those with at least nine years of formal education have a mobile phone, while 44% of those with up to eight years of formal education have a mobile phone. The highest rate of mobile phone ownership at each education level occurs in South Africa, where 76% of those with up to eight years of formal education have cell phones and 91% with higher education do. The lowest rate of mobile phone ownership for those with lower levels of education is 10% in the Central African Republic and the lowest rate among those with at least nine years of education is 40% in Liberia.

Location, Income Make a Difference in Most Countries

Urban sub-Saharan Africans are more likely to be mobile phone owners. Sixty-nine percent of sub-Saharan Africans living in urban areas in the 17 countries surveyed have a mobile phone, while significantly fewer living in rural areas, 53%, do. However, in Ghana (urban 58%, rural 60%), Nigeria (urban 77%, rural 66%), South Africa (urban 82%, rural 86%), and Zimbabwe (urban 54%, rural 39%), urban and rural dwellers are statistically as likely to have mobile phones.

Not surprisingly, household income and mobile phone ownership are also related. Those with a mobile phone report average per capita household incomes near $1,100 and those without a mobile phone report per capita household incomes lower than $740. This income pattern is present in all countries except Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa, where there is no statistical difference in per capita household income.

Implications

Mobile phone access in sub-Saharan Africa ranges widely by country. At the same time, men, those with higher education levels, urban residents, and those with higher per capita household income generally are more likely to have mobile phones. The challenge for the mobile phone industry is to expand from this base to rural and poorer areas, where cost will likely remain an obstacle to growth.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact SocialandEconomicAnalysis@gallup.com or call 202.715.3030.

Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in 2010 in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranges from ±3.4 percentage points to ±4.1 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup’s Country Data Set details.

Source: Gallup.com
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Hazards of Cell Phone to Your Health

Since the 1980s when mobile phone otherwise known as cell phone, made an in-road into the market and became very popular in developed nations, its spread has been a blessing to all manners of people across gender, race and age. Even at the time, the number of cell phones in the world was a mere 11.2 million- just two phones per 1,000. According to the United Nations, as at 2010, mobile phone users hit 5 billion. Thus, by 2011 the 5 billion would have added one or two million when many people in remote and distant places owning cell phones, with over 1,000 customers added every minute, while the world population currently stands at 6.94 billion.

The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed the upsurge in mobile phone ownership; and saw telecoms companies rushing to telecoms-virgin lands of Third World countries with their large populations, whereas global capitalism finds new markets. There is hardly any country, even in Third World nations where people are struggling to make ends meet; there are many competing telecoms companies doing the business of ‘connecting people to people, people to business, business to business; and one family member with the other, as well as friends. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the growth of telecommunications in the developing world is driven by the use of the phone for mobile banking, and health services. While many farmers use their mobile phone to sell the farm produce. Be that as it seem, more people in developing nations use their mobile for friendship and family contact than for business.

Moreover, the arrival of 3G technology fitted into smart-phones, Black Berry and i-phones have made the internet also available at a punch on consumers’ phone pad or screen. This is fast gaining currency among young and mobile population, and the working-class with higher preference for the much-talk-about popular social network sites such as Facebook, Twitters, Netlog, Tagged etc. Telecoms operation has open a wide array of opportunities!

Majority of the new users, about 59 percent, are in developing countries where cell phones are the first telecommunications technology in history to have more users there than in the developed world, according to the Washington Post. This exponential rise in cell phone users has simplify how businesses are conducted, reduce travel time/cost and improve the level contact among many persons.

All the same, while the spread of cell phone is commendable, especially for the aforementioned reasons and many more; cell phone has side –effects that users must be wary of besides enjoying the best opportunities and access it gives them. For instance, there is a debate (research-based), as to whether or not cell phone use has a strong relationship with cancer. Proponents of the argument like Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (an appendage of the National Institutes of Health), reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that cell phone’s electromagnetic radiation can lead to certain changes in the brain activity, since then there has been apprehension that the oomph from the cell phone can cause cancer. Energy emitted from cell phone, called radio-frequency energy, is a form of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation.

Some researchers from the International Agency for Cancer on Research (IACR) added its voice to support the JAMA‘s position in its separate publication, though they later debunked the claim, yet IACR has “classified cell-phone-radiation exposure to be ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans”. The research further asserted that even if there is no link, there is “…and increased risk of glioma and malignant types of brain cancer in association with wireless-phone use”. Glioma is a common type of brain tumour that is always linked with the ear. Other cancer researchers have opposed these findings as they posited that cell phone use has no relationship with cancer.

There is another strain of argument that is rife- the scratch card. A friend sent it to my mail box quoting a group of researchers, from the US had confirmed; that the silver coating covering recharge cards or refill voucher from telecommunications companies also causes cancer. The coating contains silver nitro oxide which causes skin cancer. Researchers have reservation for this revelation as well. This dimension is introduced because millions of phone users scratch the silver coating off with their nails. And the propensity that people who use their finger nails to scrape off the covering and do not wash their hands with soap afterwards is very high.

In addition, a more striking research finding on the effects of cell phone is the lowing of sperm-counts in male- which might lead to impotence in men. A report in the Journal of Andrology entitled ‘Cellular phone and male infertility” says using a cell phone can decrease the quality and quantity of a man’s sperm if men stay on the phone more than four hours a day. The report further warns that children, adolescents, young adults and especially pregnant women should take precaution and avoid keeping phone close to reproductive organs, in addition to their heads. These parts of the body are highly sensitive to electromagnetic radiation coming from cell phone, the report concluded. Besides, there is a link between radio frequency energy from cell and fire when it comes in contact with gas, hence people are always warned to have their cell phones turn-off in gas/petrol stations or fuel dumps. Yet, people make and receive in gas/petrol stations

One begins to wonder why almost everything about cell phone is cancer-related. Like the case of HIV/AIDS since in 1980s, the interconnectedness between frequent cell phone use and cancer is still a subject of debate, because it is a puzzle that can only be solved by scientists working on cancer and those developing telecoms soft-wares that would not compromise the user’s health. While it remains so, there is need for cell phone users to take precaution through the following ways.

One, always keep your phone away from your body, especially your head. By doing this, you protect vital organs of the body from the electromagnetic emission. Men should avoid putting cell phone in the thigh-pocket or breast-pocket, instead make use of leather-case and stripe to belt. Ladies can use their hand-bag. Among market women, cell phones are kept in their bra. This is very dangerous! If cell phones could cause cancer to the brain because of their proximity to the ear when in use, how much more lady’s br***t?

Two, the habit of using ear-piece in cell phone conversation must be nurtured. The quality of ear-piece to be used is another issue to grapple with here. This is because, ear-piece that serves as antenna to the phone while playing radio still transmit the emission from the cell phone no matter how distant the cell phone is from your body. Therefore, quality ear-piece with filter is most likely to be the safest. When playing radio on your phone, the hands-free or loudspeaker mode could be activated.

Three, do not use your cell phone as your alarm by your head on your bed’s side. Provided the cell phone is not switch-off radiation still travels, not only when your make/receive calls. Get a standard alarm that will save you from the hazard of keeping your phone by your head- remember the research-based debate of brain cancer and cell phone?

Four, spend less time on the phone at one time, because if for anything, the frequency of contact with the cell phone is the root cause of the linkage. Many young people stay up and spend their nightly hours in phone conversations just because such calls (dubiously call ‘happy hours’) are free from some telecom operators. I think people engage because of weak economic situation. So, make short calls and always send text messages, or at best, use good quality ear-piece with filter to avert body contact.

Lastly, do not scratch you recharge card with your finger nails. Always encourage your vendors to get a spatula-like object to peel-off the silver covering concealing the card’s secret pin whenever you want to recharge. And always obey signs that prohibit cell phone use in gas/petrol stations, fuel dumps, hospitals etc. Do not risk your life with your cell phone!

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Researchers Warn of Facebook Depression Syndrome

The latest issue of Pediatrics Journal warns that teens who spend significant amount of time on the social-networking site Facebook may suffer from a condition known as Facebook Depression Syndrome. With about 72% of teen (American teens) on FB, this cause for potential concern and counseling.

The problem, researchers found, was that the popular website’s constant feed of status, picture and message updates gave users a skewed view of reality, which could make vulnerable kids feel like they aren’t good enough.

The team from the American Academy of Pediatrics also argues that being shunned on a social networking website can be more harmful than if a child is ignored by their friends in real-life. This could be followed by deep psycho-social consequence, including suicide.

According to the study, Facebook, creates an artificial reality because people normally post the best sides of themselves and hide what they want to hide. The consequence is that visitors see the perfect friend and may think they aren’t as good.

A similar study led by Dr. Joanne Davila at Stony Brook University found that texting, email and time spent on social networking sites can worsen teens’ moods and make them obsess over issues instead of moving past them.

“One of the things we are finding is that there are people who are at a greater risk to the negative interactions in social networking and consequently feeling depressed or sad afterwards,” Dr. Davila told CBS Miami.

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Africa’s Big Social Media Explosion

Africa Social Media explosion
Africa social media explosion

André-Michel Essoungou

In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America’s and is growing faster than in any other region.

A similar story now seems again to be unfolding as Africans use their cell phones to connect to “social media” ─ Internet services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube ─ that allow people to interact with each other directly. In the process, they are joining what may be the next global trend: a shift to mobile Internet use, with social media as its main driver. According to Mary Meeker, an influential Internet analyst, mobile Internet and social media are the fastest growing areas of the technology industry worldwide, and she predicts that wireless telephones use will soon overtake computers as the primary Internet device.

Africa is pushing both developments. Studies suggest that when Africans go online (predominantly with their mobile phones), they spend much of their time on social media sites. In recent months, Facebook ─ the major social media platform worldwide and currently the most visited website in most of Africa ─ has seen a massive growth on the continent. The number of Facebook users now stands at over 17 million, up from just10 million in 2009. More than 15 per cent of people online in Africa are currently using the platform, compare to 11 per cent in Asia. Two other social networking websites, Twitter and YouTube, rank among the most visited websites in most African countries.

African sports, music and film stars, political leaders and companies have joined the global conversation. The Facebook fan base of Ivorian football star and UN goodwill ambassador Didier Drogba is approaching 1 million. Zambian author and economist Dambisa Moyo has more than 26,000 followers on Twitter. Companies such as Kenya Airways and media organizations in South Africa are using various social media platforms to interact better with customers and readers. During recent elections in Côte d’Ivoire, candidates not only toured the cities and villages; they also moved the contest online, posting campaign updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Constraints and opportunities

Africa’s embrace of social media is even more striking given the low number of Africans using the Internet and the many hurdles they face trying to go online.

Africa’s 100 million Internet users make the continent the region in the world with the lowest penetration rate and a tiny minority of the 2 billion people online around the world. Among the many reasons for this poor showing are the scarcity and prohibitive costs of high speed internet connections and the limited number of personal computers in use.

But these challenges simultaneously contribute to the growth in the use of mobile Internet, which in recent years has been the highest in the world. “Triple-digit growth rates are routine across the continent,” notes Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera, the world’s most popular mobile phone Internet browser. “The widespread availability of mobile phones means that the mobile web can reach tens of millions more than the wired web.” As with the rapid growth in use of mobile phones in Africa in recent years, Mr. Tetzchner believes that the “mobile web is beginning to reshape the economic, political and social development of the continent.”

‘Seismic shift’ coming

Erik Hersman, a prominent African social media blogger and entrepreneur is equally enthusiastic. In an e-mail to Africa Renewal, he notes that “with mobile phone penetration already high across the continent, and as we get to critical mass with Internet usage in some of Africa’s leading countries (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt) … a seismic shift will happen with services, products and information.”

These growth rates are persuading major companies to invest in reaching Africa’s expanding pool of Internet users. Facebook, after launching versions in some of the major African languages, including Swahili, Hausa and Zulu in May, has announced it will offer free access to its platform to mobile phone users in many parts of Africa. In October Google started testing a new service for Swahili speakers in East and Central Africa. Tentatively called “Baraza” (“meeting place” in Swahili), it will allows people to interact and share knowledge by asking and answering questions, many of them of only very local or regional interest.

Africans are also cashing in on the local market. In South Africa, MXit, a free instant messaging application with an estimated 7 million users, is the most popular local social networking service. From Accra and Abidjan to Lusaka and Nairobi, African programmers are designing and launching new home-grown platforms and tools that will keep the African online conversation going and growing in the years ahead.

André-Michel Essoungou is a writer for UN Africa Renewal magazine based in New York City
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