Hello my fellow freelancers! Recently I have been sharing with you the details from my informative conversation with professional resume writer Karen Swim. Part one was a brief overview of everything we discussed. Part two was the Top Ten Rules to follow when fine tuning your resume. This week I will write about what Karen had to say about some not so uncommon situations you may need to deal with when preparing your resume or facing an interviewer. These are areas of your resume that Karen highly recommends you work with a professional to ensure maximum results and avoid potentially sabotaging your chances of being called in for an interview.

What do you do when, after several years in a position, your position was terminated under not so good circumstances? Perhaps you had a moment of poor judgment or you violated company policy. Perhaps due to the economy your company downsized and you, filled with panic and uncertainty, reacted with a not so pleasant exit speech. Whatever the situation or how it was handled, it does not have to negate the fact that up until that moment you had favorable standing with the company. You still have the knowledge and experience you gained all those years. Don’t let the fear of having a discussion about the situation cause you to omit the positives from your resume. Put the relevant information from the past job on the resume. List your experience and duties. Give them your start date and end date. If your term with the company was short, it can be left off the resume. When asked why you left that long term job, be ready. Don’t fly off the handle and re-live the whole situation. Most importantly, tell the truth. Be forthcoming with information and answer any questions calmly and honestly. Follow the truth with what you learned from your actions and what you have done to ensure it will not ever be an issue again. Then focus on the positives of the situation and the experience you gained while employed with that company.

Do not put past salary or wage information on your resume. You could possibly lock yourself into a non negotiating area. Do have the information available on a neatly formatted separate document in case the information is requested. Only give the separate document if requested, do not include it with your resume. The information on the document should include both the beginning pay and ending pay and possibly a brief explanation of how the pay raises were issued. When interviewing with a potential employer, know the salary history and range for the company. Do some homework. Know a ball park figure of what you may be offered before you even sit down and have an interview. Only give an expected salary if pressed. Again, you don’t want to lock yourself into a non negotiating area.

Many people think it is okay to “pad” your resume or exaggerate to some degree. DO NOT DO IT! It will come back to haunt you every time. Padding your resume is a sure fire way to have short term employment. It won’t take long for an employer to realize there were embellishments on the resume and show you the door. If you have familiarity with a particular area, by all means, mention the experience. But don’t give the impression that you are a pro at something when your knowledge is minimal. Again we come to the importance of honesty. It is a good thing. Trust me. Better yet, trust Karen.

I cannot stress the importance of each of these topics when compiling your resume and participating in an interview. These are three areas that need to be handled with expertise and finesse to ensure the best outcome for you; the kind of expertise and finesse a professional resume preparer can provide.

Do you have questions about your resume? What you may or may not be doing right wrong? Drop us a comment and we will address any issues our readers share with us. We would love to hear your comments and feedback.

Karen D. Swim is the President and CEO of Words For Hire and author of How to Write Your Own Killer Resume. Her company provides integrated marketing solutions to a wide range of global businesses and career marketing and branding solutions to high impact professionals. Karen has more than two decades of management, marketing and business strategy experience. She uses integrative problem solving to customize marketing and content solutions for clients. The difference is solutions that align with the customer’s brand and objectives rather than cookie cutter, me too marketing that forces the customer into a predetermined model. To learn more about career marketing solutions or to purchase the book, visit http://getcareerhelp.com.