“Marital statue” and other strange things written in a resume

Resumes are not just  a snap shot of your career, they can tell the reader a whole heap more…

A resume was recently emailed to me for a job within administration.  Under the heading of Personal Details and along with DOB, there was a heading of “Marital Statue”.  Now, if whilst reading this resume in a hurry, or for the very first time, you may have missed the misspelling, the writer of this resume, helped to see the heading by encasing with and underline, used large font and highlighted in bold. It was proudly displayed for all to read, not once, but several times.

Firstly, let’s talk about marital status (status, being the right word, albeit, in the wrong place/context)

The definition of marital status, is any of several distinct options that describe a person’s relationship with a significant other. Married, single, divorced, and widowed are examples of marital status.

 

 

 

 

So why insert this into your resume?

One it’s not needed

I mean who needs to know and why do they need to know? I kinda, sorta understand if the role was working in the isolated  icy cold Tundra for months at a time, and therefore  the job may place a strain on any relationship – but really? Many workers cope with remoteness, many people work well away from family and friends for extended periods.

Two, it’s a typo and/or spelling error

Oh God, here’s my passion project! READ REVIEW SLEEP AND READ AND REVIEW again!  Repeat and rinse! Then get a person who has a profound eye for detail to check the resume again BEFORE pressing send!  My spellcheck would not allow Marital Statue to pass muster, even a computer insisted that I make it marital status.

Three, it shows a sloppy application and therefore, rightly or wrongly,  judgements are made about YOU

The job advertisement specifically called for “attention to detail” but even so, who wants to employ a sloppy worker? One that could be great, but, well that’s just it … the reader is left in doubt..

There used to be a time with Marital STATUS was an important factor in assessing a candidate for a job. I believe that was when Noah gathered animals for the Arc, but perhaps I’m wrong.  Perhaps there still are pockets of prejudiced people who think that relationship status is important. Perhaps they watched too many episodes of Mad Men. I digress.  Please ask yourself when relationship status would be important and how this status could affect an individual’s performance? And even if this could be explained, why would you want to work for an organisation that has this as a criterion?

Finally,  YOUR RESUME is YOUR Image…. Pure and simple… make it read like the person  they want to hire!

 

Ivana Agapiou Resume writer and career advisor