Top Resume Writing Mistakes that Make You Look Incompetent

Your resume is the first impression that a recruiter or HR representative will get about you during your job search and, the difficulty with resumes is that, if you can’t portray yourself as a viable candidate on paper, you’re never going to get the chance to show that you’re a strong applicant in person. Long story short, if your resume is weak, chances are you won’t get that critical first interview.

When it comes to resume writing you can’t afford to have any mistakes. HR managers and recruiters see so many resumes on a daily basis for every job that they are hiring for that if they see one fundamental error in your resume, you’re just making their lives easier by allowing the to eliminate you and move on to the other resumes they have piled up. To help avoid being dismissed as a potential hire, here are some of the top (and most common) resume mistakes that can eliminate you as a candidate for the job you’re applying for.

1. Unprofessional contact information. Many recruiters are more often than not accepting resumes and contacting applicants via email. Having an unprofessional or silly email address can be immediately off-putting. It’s a good idea to create a simple, professional email address that you use for your job search. Those little details go a long way to making a good impression with your resume.
2. Poor font choice and formatting. That last thing you want is to make your resume difficult for recruiters to read. Distracting font or odd formatting can take away from the actual relevant and worthwhile information contained in your resume.
3. Not including objectives. In general, if a firm is hiring, then it’s because they have a problem they need fixed or a gap they need filled. If that’s the case, then one of the best things you can do on your resume is include the ways that you will help them reach their goals rather than just listing all of the things you’ve done in the past.
4. Focusing on duties rather than accomplishments. The things that you’ve achieved in past goals can say as much, if not more, about your skills than a list of your past duties. Showing your successes can help to prove you’re a good choice for a similar role.
5. Including salary expectations. Salary expectations shouldn’t be discussed during the initial application or interviewing process. Including a salary expectation that doesn’t fit with a firm’s job description can be one of the fastest was to ensure that you won’t get called in for an interview.
6. Typos and grammatical errors. This is just common sense (or it should be). There isn’t a single job on the market that doesn’t require the person who’s filling it to have strong written and oral communications skills. Not taking the time to carefully read through your resume to check for errors and then having someone else proof read it for you is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

About

• Mail
|
• More Posts(31)