From the course: Writing a Resume

Customize identifying information

From the course: Writing a Resume

Customize identifying information

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- Every resume has basic requirements it needs to meet. The most basic of which is your name and location. So in this video, we're going to start there. What's in a name. Well, I won't comment on the ethics or lack thereof, of discriminating based upon someone's name. We do live in the real world. So if you know you have a name that is difficult to pronounce, ethnically obvious, or just plain strange, there are a few things you can do should you choose to do something about it. On a resume you can use an initial. Rather than my full name of Stacy Gordon. I could go with S. Gordon. So if your name is Jamie, but your middle name is Brian, you might want to include your middle name so that you don't leave a recruiter guessing. In regions like the UAE, there are jobs that are assigned based upon your gender. And in that region of the world, you will need to make it obvious if you are male or female. And while we're on the subject of where you live, your location can be a make or break factor When it comes to landing an interview. Have I looked at the address of a candidate and made the determination not to call that candidate because the commute would be too far? I will neither confirm nor deny, but to avoid being initially bypassed rather than list your full address, use the city and state only. This works well in large cities because it won't be possible to pinpoint which part of the city you live in. And before you get all judgy about whether or not that's the right thing to do, employers aren't the only one with strict requirements. I've had candidates tell me they won't work in certain geographic areas. They're not interested in being outside a specific commute radius, or they need to be near a specific area because of family responsibilities. The right job is out there for you. And by customizing your resume, you increase your chances of finding it.

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