How do I keep personal info off my resume?

A reader writes:

"I'm having difficulties figuring out how I should word something on my resume. I would like to portray my time management skills and notable ability to multi-task, which is what helped me get through college. However, the problem that comes into place is that I was a non-traditional student with a child, held multiple jobs during some semesters and volunteered my time to other children who I would put on and get off the bus. Most of this information is personal information that should never go on a resume, especially a business (health care admin.) resume. 

The part of volunteering my time to children before and after school and also the ability to hold multiple jobs while in school isn't as personal, but, I would like to make known that I strongly exhibit these characteristics without revealing that I'm a mother, non-traditional student, and other personal traits. How would I word this on my resume when I'm giving examples? Also, I didn't job hop. I worked for one organization for 9 years. My wording above may portray it as though I'm a job hopper"

Ok, there are a few things going on here, so let's go through them one by one:

First, don't worry about being seen as a non-traditional student. Really, there is no way to "hide" this based on the amount of experience you will have coupled with your graduation date listed on your resume. Plus, in this economy it has become commonplace for people to go back to school, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Holding multiple jobs while in school also shouldn't be an issue and is usually seen as an asset by employers if you kept your grades up and gained experience. However, you might not want to list every single job you held during college on your resume. Your resume is a marketing document, not an exhaustive account of every job you've ever held, so you should be picking and choosing only the relevant experience to include.

You might find that being more selective with what goes on your resume solves the multiple jobs issue for you. This will also likely help you avoid the job hopper label you're worried about. In general, employers are worried about people how job hop from one career job to another--and that doesn't sound like what you're talking about. If you stayed at one organization for 9 years and held several part0time gigs during school, you shouldn't be perceived as a job hopper anyway.

As for the soft skills like time management and multitasking you got from volunteering,  they only belong on your resume when you can tie them to a specific experience where you gained or practiced those skills. But your sense that you shouldn't reveal personal information when trying to highlight those skills is right on.

Although, to be honest, I'm not sure how listing your volunteer experience would reveal that you're a parent or other personal traits. Without examples of your current wording, I would assume something like "Ensured 3 children ages 5-11 safely go on and off the school bus" would be listed on your resume for what you describe. You should definitely be able to talk about your volunteer experience without revealing personal information.

This is a lot to take in, but I hope this helps!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.