It's easy to make mistakes on your resume and difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it. So prevention is critical, especially if you've never written one before. Here are the most common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.
1. Typos and Grammatical Errors
Your resume needs to be gramatically perfect. If it is not, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like: "This person can't write," or "This person obviously doesn't care." I may even say "What the ???" and "How hard is it to click the SPELL CHECK Icon?"
2. Lack of Specifics
Employers need to understand what you've done and accomplished! What makes you different then Sally Skill-Patrick? Let's take a look at Statements A vs B:
(A) Worked with employees in a restaurant setting.
(B) Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.
Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but clearly Statement (B) gives more detail and specifics which will more than likely grab the employers attention.
3. Attempting One Size Fits All
Whenever you try to develop a "one-size-fits-all" resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.
4. Highlighting Duties Instead of Accomplishments
It's easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example:
*Attended group meetings and recorded minutes.
*Worked with children in a day-care setting.
*Updated departmental files.
Employers, however, don't care so much about what you've done as what you've accomplished in your various activities. They're looking for statements more like these:
* Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft
Word-based file for future organizational reference.
* Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10 minute
holiday program performance.
* Reorganized 10 years' worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department
members.
5. Going on Too Long or Cutting Things Too Short
Despite what you may read or hear, there are no real rules governing the length of your resume. Why? Because human beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned, will be reading it.
That doesn't mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two pages. But don't feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Basically remember this:
Don't cut the meat out of your resume to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.
6. A Bad Objective
Employers do read your resume's objective statement, but too often they plow through vague fluff statements like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth." YAWN!Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in fund-raising for nonprofits."
7. No Action Verbs
Avoid using phrases like "responsible for." Instead, use action verbs: "Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff."
8. Leaving Off Important Information
You may be tempted to eliminate mention of the jobs you've taken to earn extra money. Typically, however, these "soft skills" you've gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think.
9. Visually Too Busy
If your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. Remember that we sift through hundreds of resumes on line as well as the hordes of stacks piled up on the recruiters desk. So show your resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find it visually attractive? If what you have is hard on the eyes, REVISE!
10. Incorrect Contact Information
Incorrect information is my biggest pet peeve! A couple of years back, I was approached to critique a very strong resume. I asked the Job Seeker, why the lack of response on his resume? He replied "I have no idea!" I then took a glance again and asked him if all the contact information was correct? Astonished and thanking me profusely, he noticed that his contact information, particularly his phone number were incorrect.
Moral of the story: Double-check even the most minute details.
MY TOP 10 RESUME NO-NO's
