Resume Mistakes

Resume writing is a lost art, especially as we move into an era where we can find anything we may need online. Many people will do a quick search for resume templates to get the basis for their resume and then simply drop their own information into the prewritten template. While this is fine for the bare bones of crafting a resume, it does nothing in terms of submitting a resume that really stands out from the crowd. When writing your resume, keep these five common mistakes in mind:

Resume Mistake #1.

Not formatting everything perfectly. Formatting can be tricky when writing a resume and it’s easy for parameters to get off, which results in your resume looking sloppy and like it was hurriedly put together. Reformatting may be a nuance to do, but it makes the difference between looking like you care about what is on your resume and looking like you just slapped it together.

Resume Mistake #2.

Crafting a general resume. Not every job is a carbon copy of the next, and your resume shouldn’t be either. Your resume needs to be tailored to reflect your skills, attributes and experience for the position you’re applying for, which means you should take the time to beef up the parts that your prospective employer will find most appealing. You can find these in the job description in the Ad you are responding to. If the job requires someone who is “creative” or “detail oriented” be sure that shows up in your resume.

Resume Mistake #3.

Having more than one page for your resume. Your resume needs to be clear and concise, not wordy or long. A resume that is longer than one page, risks pages getting separated from each other and gives your interviewer too much information to read. Your interviewer is going to be interviewing many people and needs to quickly reference your information. That can’t be done when there are multiple pages to look over. Carefully review your resume. Make very word count. Don’t use two words when one will do.

The previous paragraph has 88 words… what words could be eliminated and still have it mean the same thing?

How about:

More than one page. Your resume needs to be concise, not wordy. A resume longer than one page, risks pages getting separated and gives your interviewer too much information. Your interviewer needs to quickly reference your information. That can’t be done when there are multiple pages. Carefully review your resume. Make very word count. Don’t use two words when one will do.

This paragraph has 62 words a 28% reduction. Does it mean the same? There are some subtle differences in meaning but the the majority of the meaning is retained. Take a few minutes to cut the unnecessary words. Mark Twain is known for the amount of time he spent finding the right words, because it takes more effort to cut all the unnecessary ones.

“I am sorry to write such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.” ― Mark Twain

But according to Josh Billings it is worth the extra effort to cut them down.

“There’s a great power in words, if you don’t hitch too many of them together.” — Josh Billings (1818-1885)

Resume Mistake #4.

Spelling and grammatical errors. With the wide availability of spell check and grammar checking software, there is no reason why your resume shouldn’t be flawless in terms of spelling and punctuation. Any resume that does contain these errors shows that you didn’t put in the appropriate time or effort when creating it, and shows your potential employer that you didn’t care enough about the job to look over the resume ahead of time. Some employers may take this to indicate that you will do sloppy work for them or that you aren’t really interested in working for them.

Resume Mistake #5.

Incorrect information. Personal information often gets overlooked when updating a resume even though it is the most likely to have changed at some point. Your email address and phone number are most critical. Make sure that they are correct, because if they aren’t no one is going to be able to contact you for an interview or job offer.

Your resume is your potential employer’s connection to you once you walk out of his office after the interview, so making sure that it’s in top notch form is of the utmost importance. Don’t skimp when you’re putting it together, spend the necessary time writing it and double-checking all of the information before handing it out to different companies.