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As a retired recruiter, I have seen hundreds of resumes. Recruiters receive so many resumes for one job opportunity in a week that they are trained to sort them first then look to eliminate - because there are so many.

Most people know this information and use it to their disadvantage. Because they try to stand out in creative ways. But, this only gets them dumped in the trash.

So if you are looking for a job, or planning on making a job change, please do not do the following:

1. Put everything you have ever done in your entire life on your resume. Most people want to put down everything, in hopes that the recruiter will notice something that will be needed and give them a call. However, if your resume does not look appealing - meaning neat and proportionate, it gets dumped in the trash. No one is going to read your whole life experiences. There is not enough time in the day.

2. Use colored paper for your resume. Colored paper, expensive papers, all are nice and pretty, however, they do nothing to help get you from the sorting pile to the reading pile. When they are faxed, (some people still use fax machines) they come across gray and scratchy and make it a mark against you because its hard to read.

3. Sending a photograph. It's nice to know you have a great smile, and are very handsome and charming, unless it's a modeling job, it is inappropriate.

4. Attaching certificates, degrees, calendars, finance statements, etc. Please save something for the interview. Listing your accomplishments is more than enough on you resume, but it's best to have this conversation during the interview and if asked, you can show the proof.

5. Coloring different words in your text to stand out. Colors are not good. By the time a recruiter looks through 50 or more resumes, all the words look the same, and the colors just stand out and look like you are trying to stand out and be too pushy.

6. Small fonts, fancy fonts. Use only the 10 pitch Arial simplest font for creating your resume, small fonts, fancy fonts, do not make you look better. The words are what they are the style in which it is written does not matter. It just makes it hard to read.

7. Listing outdated software programs. Wang Computers and Selectric went out when the horse and buggies got pushed off the road for cars. A recruiter is only looking for what they use and probably does not know what that is that you used at your last job. Keep in mind to keep your resume fresh and up to date.

8. Including your salary or range of pay.

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