What is “opinion” and what is ”expertise" when it comes to personal branding?

Dear Sam: I am getting conflicting advice on writing a professional resume, which leads me to write to you. Can I use ampersand signs to save room? Can I abbreviate words to free up space? Must I spell out numbers? You also mentioned not putting your career objective on the resume; I heard differently. You mentioned leaving your address off of the resume; I heard differently, and why is that? Can I use bullet points? You mentioned putting your skills and experience on the top of the resume; I have always put it on the bottom? Since I have such an extensive background, is it okay to have a two-page resume? Should references also be kept off of a resume? – Dawn

Dear Dawn: Great questions! I thought it would be fun to answer some rapid-fire questions for a change! Here goes…

1. You can use the ampersand symbol in headlines but not in body copy.
2. I would not abbreviate words—unless it is a common acronym—as that may reduce your keyword relevance.
3. The general rule is to write out numbers between 0 and 9 and use numerical digits for 10 and above. If you have a sentence with a 4 and a 12 in it, for instance, you would use numerical digits for all. I do break the rule sometimes in the resume world as numbers have a tendency to jump off the page; so as long as you are consistent in your approach, you could present all as digits if you prefer.
4. Objective statements are archaic and have been replaced for 10+ years with qualifications summaries. Unfortunately, outdated advice or opinions are still floating around!
5. Leaving off your address is a common practice. It stems from an awareness that it is unlikely to receive mail in a job search before you had phone or email contact, and since we are increasingly transient, meaning where we live does not dictate where we would work. Some also omit this information for privacy reasons. Presenting or omitting your address on your resume is certainly not going to make or break your candidacy. I typically remove the physical address but leave the city and state.
6. Skills are incredibly important therefore, you would want them to be seen during the screening process and on the most important real estate of your resume: the top one-third of page one.
7. You should have a two-page resume! One page would present a disconnect between your experience and the value you were able to contribute.
8. References do not go on a resume; they are presented at an interview.

Hope that helps clear up a few things for you!?

Dear Sam: I am in my 50s and looking for ways to not show my age in my resume, which I think is adversely affecting my job search. I?deleted the dates from my college degrees and also deleted my earliest job experience.?However, I still show my dates of employment for each of the jobs that I have included, such as 2007-2013. Do you think this is a problem, and is there a good way to omit these dates without raising the suspicion of gaps in employment??– John?

Dear John: Omitting dates of employment from every position will raise enough red flags that it will likely prevent you from getting in the door every time. An omission of all dates really will not raise questions as to job gaps, but instead of how much experience you have and whether you have been working recently. You have taken the right approach in omitting your year of graduation and excluding earlier experience. I typically start thinking about whether an experience is adding value to someone's candidacy when I start seeing dates back in the 1990s—which would present more than 20 years of experience, 5-10 years more than the expectation—and definitely the 1980s. You have to have a compelling reason to present experience that dated as it will age your candidacy and position you as potentially overqualified and more expensive than someone with the desired number of years of experience. As long as your content is in line with today's industry jargon, and you are not opening your resume with a statement like, "30 years of experience," you should be seen as not such a seasoned professional and be more competitive in the job market.

Samantha Nolan is an Advanced Personal Branding Strategist and Career Expert, founder and CEO of Nolan Branding. Do you have a resume, career, or job search question for Dear Sam? Reach Samantha at [email protected] . For information on Nolan Branding’s services, visit www.nolanbranding.com or call 614-570-3442.