1. Should My Resume Hide My Age?

Dear Lauryn: I'm 57 years old. My resume shows the date I graduated from college as well as all my employment dates. It has been suggested that I remove all dates except for the last decade or so. I'm up in the air on this. I don't want to "date" myself out of a possible interview, but I also do not want to mislead a prospective employer. What do you advise?

- Gray But Good

Dear GBG, if I may call you that: My advice, which I have seen work well repeatedly, is to go back 10 to 15 (sometimes even 20) years - depending upon the pertinence of the further-back information/achievements, etc.

Sometimes, company affiliations or job roles dating 21 to 30+ years back need to be mentioned based on the target audience. In these instances, a summary section showcasing key information (names of companies/positions/key accomplishments) ONLY should be listed. Omit the dates.

If you are asked about the date of graduation from college (and I do believe this indeed to be an interviewer "no no," based on my research and reading), I might respond with a question that helps to clarify why the interviewer is asking the question - find out how the interview question relates to your performance of the job.

Or, you might say something to the effect that you are sensing potential concerns about age, and then reassure the interviewer that you are fully prepared to master all requirements of the position - that you are committed to bringing a wealth of education, training and experience that few could equal, or some such similar response (aka, answering the question indirectly but meaningfully). Finally, you can simply answer the question directly and matter of factly.

2. How Do I Ask About Money?

Dear Lauryn: Most of the job positions I see say something vague about salary, such as "excellent salary commensurate with experience" or "salary open." This really doesn't help. I had the experience where I went through two interviews and then found that the salary was $20,000 lower than my last position. There never seems to be a good time to say, "Oh, by the way, what is the salary?" when you don't even know if you will be offered the second interview. What is the best way to address the salary issue?

- Show Me the Money

Dear Show Me: It is not uncommon for organizations not to show a salary or salary range. There are lots of reasons for doing so - from trying to protect their competitive position to simply not having much of an idea themselves and figuring they will simply negotiate a package with whomever the candidate turns out to be.

While that can be frustrating in a number of ways, it isn't the end of the world either. In my experience, I have always found that when it comes to compensation and two parties want to make something happen, they usually find a way to make it happen.

My advice is to always look for opportunities where you feel the job content makes sense for you and then worry about compensation later. People make decisions to leave and/or accept jobs based on a number of factors, and money is just one of them.

Personal job satisfaction, location, company culture, and work life balance, etc. are just a few of the other things; and at the end of the day, one has to decide what all of these taken together are "worth."

3. Dear Who?

Dear Lauryn: Help me out. I'm looking for a job. Most of the ads want applicants to apply via e-mail. But they don't list the name of the HR director or a contact person. So who do I address the cover letter to?

- Frustrated

Dear Frustrated: When responding to a job posting, you can always get the name of the senior HR exec, and address your letter to him or her. Check the company's website, get the general telephone number, ask for HR; ask the HR person for the senior HR exec's name and title - and you're set. Or use the same approach and go through the sales department to gain access to HR. Even though your resume may be one of a zillion, if you address yours to the senior HR person you may have a better chance of being seen.

An even better idea: Network. Responding to postings can be frustrating - you may never hear anything. Networking is a good support system to the job postings approach - so blend the two approaches. (Go ahead and send in your resume to the normal channels, but network to meet the hiring manager).

Wishing you career success,

Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet
www.execunet.com

THE SAFETYXCHANGE FATALITY FILE

The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs

Which job is most likely to get you killed? SafetyXChange is pleased to announce the creation of a new feature designed to answer that question. We'll be looking at not just statistics but "softer" anecdotal evidence profiling the dangers of various jobs and comparing the results.

To start off, here's a list of the 10 most dangerous occupations in America. More precisely, it's a list of the occupations that had the highest fatality rates per 100,000 workers based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Number one on the list is a tie between logging and aircraft pilots at 92.4 fatalities per 100,000. Here's the rest of the list:

3. Fishers & Fishing Workers: 86.4
4. Iron & Steel Workers: 47.3
5. Garbage Collectors: 43.2
6. Farmers & Ranchers: 37.5
7. Roofers: 34.9
8. Power Line Installers/Repairers: 30
9. Truckers and Driver/Sales Workers (such as pizza delivery persons): 27.6
10. Taxi Drivers & Chauffeurs: 24.2

Comments

Notice that five of the occupations are performed in or near vehicles - airplanes (which includes smaller and older planes, not just commercial aircraft), fishing boats, trucks and cars.

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