There are more options than ever to make further your career via your online presence through social sites, professional site profiles and digital portfolios. But, don’t count out the good old resume as your most effective tool. It is the foundation, after all, of your career story. Well done, It can get your foot in the door for an interview.
Poorly done, however, and it gets thrown in the “circular file” without a second glance. Let’s take a look at some of the common issues discussed in 9 Glaring Resume Mistakes Not to Make that will earn your resume a trip to the recycle bin.
Leaving out clear dates is a red flag, no matter how you try to cover it up.
1. Grammar Errors and Typos
Employers do notice those your/you’re or there/their/they’re errors. They do notice when you choose to overuse commas or just forego punctuation almost entirely. They definitely notice when you misspell words.
“There’s no room for sloppiness. According to a 2013 CareerBuilder survey, 58% of employers identified resumes with typos as one of the top mistakes that led them to automatically dismiss a candidate,” says article author Christine Jyoti.
The best solution is to have someone go over your resume before you send it out. Spell check will not catch everything, so be sure to read over everything carefully.
2. Submitting Incorrect Information
It goes without saying that getting your own phone number wrong on your resume does not put you in a positive light. Wrong job titles, dates of employment or contact information is a red flag. At best, it makes you look sloppy. At worst, it might appear like you were intentionally trying to mislead employers.
3. Getting Too Elaborate With Formatting and Style
According to How to Impress the Robot that’s Reading your Resume, research has found that 95 percent of large companies and half of mid-sized companies use tracking systems to analyze applicant’s resumes. This means that your resume needs to be formatted correctly to get through the system, so it can get to a real person. Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts to remember, and check out the article’s infographic for more information.
- Don’t feel like you have to adhere to a standard one-page resume
- Do use web-standard fonts such as Arial, Tahoma or Verdana
- Do use an executive summary and bulleted list of qualifications and skills
- Don’t use fancy formatting; keep bullets, headers and subheads consistent
- Don’t use any tables or charts
- Don’t use graphics of logos
4. Omitting Exact Dates
Leaving out clear dates is a red flag, no matter how you try to cover it up.
“CareerBuilder’s survey found that 27% of employers identified resumes that don’t include exact dates of employment as one of the most common resume mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate,” writes Jyoti. If you have a gap in employment, Jyoti suggests briefly addressing it in the cover letter.
5. Not Including Skills
A skill section is not considered optional by many recruiters and employers. Make sure that you highlight those skills that are pertinent to the job you are applying for. This is also a good section to work in keywords that will be searched by automated resume tracking systems.
“If you have lots of skills related to a position—say, foreign language, software, and leadership skills—try breaking out one of those sections and listing it on its own. Below your “Skills” section, add another section titled “Language Skills” or “Software Skills,” and detail your experience there,” suggest the Daily Muse article 43 Resume Tips That Will Help Get You Hired.
But, remember a specific section is not the only place you can highlight your skills. You can tie them in throughout your profile summary, job duties and accomplishments to show quantifiable results.