Here are some suggestions: Name, Address, and Telephone Number.
We have a resume from a former Marine that only lists his name, with no address or phone number. He paid $175 to have that resume prepared. When we pointed out the omission, his response was, "No wonder I haven't heard from anyone."
Your name should appear on every page, in case the pages get separated. The address should be one where you can be reached. (Don't forget that you will probably be moving when you leave the service. If the recruiters can't find you, they can't offer you an interview.) The telephone number should be one that will be answered during normal business hours. If there is no one to answer the phone, invest in an answering machine and make sure you leave a professional-sounding message on the machine. Be careful about a child who likes to play with the phone and who may cause you to miss a message. You should also avoid highly creative and musical answering-machine messages. You don't want to be singing Be-Bop-A-Lula to a prospective employer.
Security Clearance
List the highest clearance you have ever held, any special access you may have had (that you can reveal), and the date of your last update.
Place of Birth
Again, apply the does-it-help? Test. If you want a job in Philadelphia and were born and raised in the area, then say under the Personal heading, "Born and raised in the Philadelphia."
Availability Date
Obviously, the job search will begin before your separation or retirement, so you should tell the employer when you can start work. Do not write, "Immediately." That implies that you are unemployed, and, for some strange reason, employers feel people who already have jobs are more valuable. If you are unemployed, indicate that you are available "with reasonable notice."
Health
Even if you are receiving some sort of disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, you should write, "Health: Excellent." If the disability does not impede your ability to perform the task, then your health is excellent. We recommend that you always include this statement, especially if you are over forty and retiring. Recruiters play the same kind of reverse thinking games we are discussing here. If you omit the statement, they might assume something is wrong with you. We should note, of course, that the new Americans with Disabilities Act outlaws any employment decisions based on disabilities.
Age
There is obvious age discrimination in the private-sector workforce. The problem is that you really won't know if the company you are applying to prefers younger workers. This entry is not required on a resume and may not be used to make a hiring decision. However, it could work for or against you. The best advice is to omit age unless it is used to clarify other information. For example, if you are a very young person and have accomplished a tremendous amount in a few short years, you might want to list your age to show your youth. If you are very young and feel the position requires someone with more maturity, leave it out. Conversely, if you are older and the position apparently is designed for youth, or if you are older and have few qualifications, omit age.
Other Personal Information
You should leave off most other personal information. If personal information about you passes the does-it-help? test, then you may include a heading entitled Personal or Personal Background to reveal any personal items that favor you or that are related to your qualifications.
References
Most resumes will end with the References heading. And they end in a whimper. They fizzle out and say, "References: Available on request." Or they use a fancier preposition and say, "Available upon request." Or they say, "Furnished upon request." Of course references are available on request. What are you going to do when a prospective employer asks for references? Say no? At least you should be a little more upbeat than "Available on request." Instead write, "Excellent references furnished on re quest." Or you can write, "Professional and personal references provided on request." At least try to end with a bang, not a whimper.
Should you list references on your resume? Experts disagree, but you should list your references, either on your resume or on a separate sheet, if those references are recognizable by name or by title. If someone famous will recommend you, put the name on your resume. Is it name dropping to do so? You bet it is. And it works. Alternatively, if someone with a spiffy title will recommend you, put the name, title, address, and phone number on your resume. Spiffy titles include: General, Professor, President, Admiral, and so on.
If you decide to list references, be sure you personally call them and ask their permission. Make certain you tell each reference that you intend to include his or her name, address, and phone number on your resume. Send a copy of your resume to your reference so that, if contacted, he or she will know what experience you are trying to focus on.
One effective alternative to listing your references directly on your resume is to have a separate reference sheet. In this way you can send out resumes that do not reveal names and addresses of your references and then present the reference sheet at the interview. Or you might decide some prospective employers should receive references at the same time they receive your resume. Then you include the reference sheet with that mailing.
