by Ted Sherman

Created on: April 22, 2009

Don't include in your resume all the bad things that have happened during your working life. This isn't a recommenation that you print up a bunch of bald-faced lies in your applications for new jobs. Unless you have a genius memory, those lies will get you nothing but rejections. Or if you do manage to get a job with a fake resume, within days, weeks or months, they will get you a quick kick out the door. However, there are negative experiences you must omit from your resume, or you could never get another decent job.

I should know all about this. I spent the first five years of my 50-year working career by jumping in and out of jobs, including several where I was actually fired. Then, I then found a great job which lasted nearly 30 years. I worked my way up to management of a creative division of a major financial company. Many times during my management career, I was on the hiring side of the job interview desk.

My division consisted mostly of 30 college-educated ad copywriters, PR specialists, conference planners and graphic artists. As some of those professional employees left due to promotions and for other reasons, I needed to hire at least a dozen new people a year. This involved reading stacks of resumes, and for each job opening, interviewing as many as ten applicants. My own experiences as a job applicant, and being kicked out of several jobs, gave me considerable insight into what is real and what is fake about a resume. Now that I'm retired and no longer need to write nor read inflated resumes, I offer my advice to would-be job applicants.

As the title may suggest, omitting isn't lying. In the mid-1960s I was hired by a large aerospace firm in its ad department. I was there only six months, when one day a group of anti-war protesters arrived and picketed at our front gate. This was during the Vietnam War, and our company was busily making components for weapons. Having served in the Navy in two previous wars, I wasn't very sympathetic to the protesters. However, it was a hot August day and many of the people had brought their children along as they marched, sang and waved their signs.

Because they were on the sidewalk and didn't tresspass on our company's property, we couldn't call our guards or local police to get rid of them. Then, after five hours, as I watched from my office window, I could see that many of the kids were suffering from the summer heat. So, I took a large water bottle and a bunch of paper cups, went out on the sidewalk and handed

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