Some of the biggest mistakes are making the resume longer than it needs to be and filling it with too much information. Other things to avoid are using too much formatting options and writing too quickly. By fixing these common mistakes, you can make sure that your resume stands out from the rest, making it easier to get through any interview.
You have to remember that recruiters and hiring managers receive hundreds of applications in a day. With this, they can only afford to skim and scan the resumes of hopeful candidates. Resume mistakes can easily put them off. That’s why you should make sure to avoid them in your curriculum vitae (CV), even if it means reading through the document again and again until you get everything right.
Here are some common mistakes in building a resume and how you can correct them:
1. Overlooking Typos And Grammatical Errors
Grammatical errors and typos are the most common resume mistakes. Misspellings and incorrect usage of verb tenses and other technicalities imply that you aren’t keen on noticing details. Moreover, these errors can significantly affect your chances of landing your dream job.
Avoiding the said mistakes is as easy as proofreading your application at least three times before you print or submit it. You can also ask a local or online academic expert to proofread and critique your paper for you. However, this may not be sufficient to correct errors that are already present in your resume. If these errors are still present in your application, you need to look for ways to fix them.
The only best way to catch typos and grammatical errors when writing your resume is to check and proofread every single word and phrase before uploading and sending it to a potential employer. Take the time to ensure that your resume is error-free. Submitting a file that’s loaded with mistakes can look unprofessional and cost you the chance to get a job interview schedule.
2. Using A One-Size-Fits-All Resume
The general rule that you should stick to is that the more relevant details you have about the employer, the easier it is to write an appropriate resume. You’ll find that some of the most important things that you can include are the educational background, experience with the job, and your work history. However, the employer should be informed about any specializations that you may have, like a foreign language or computer skills.
Also, don’t forget to use the keywords found in the job description. Include your achievements and the special skills that you gained during your employment. In the ‘work experience’ section, showcase specific career experiences positively. It’s important to highlight your strengths in the resume as these will help you in getting hired. Remember that this is an opportunity to showcase your best qualities.
To have a successful job interview, you have to pass the initial test first, which is to have your resume stand out from other applications. You can do this by avoiding a generic resume and customizing the document you submit according to the needs of the company that you’re applying for.
3. Highlighting The Wrong Things
Another common resume mistake is focusing on the things that you did every day rather than emphasizing the achievements that you contributed to your current or previous employer. When you merely list down your job responsibilities, it isn’t really showing the recruiter much, except that you pass the minimum standard.
What you can do instead is to focus on the accomplishments that you had during your employment. Write down the projects you spearheaded that became a success. You can consider hiring professional resume writing services to help you present your employment experience in such a way that your concrete contributions are highlighted.
It goes without saying that you should avoid exaggerating and maintain your integrity by being honest about your achievements. Don’t overinflate them because the employer will discover the truth when they conduct the background check. Dishonesty is an unfavorable character trait. Being deceitful about your work experiences can cost you your chances of being employed.
4. Missing Or Inappropriate Contact Information
You also need to make sure that employers can reach you when they invite you for an interview. Check whether all your contact details are correct, especially with phone numbers, where even a single mistake can render the entire section useless.
For inappropriate contact information, email addresses are notorious for being informal. You don’t want potential employers to send you an interview invitation on an unprofessional email address. As much as possible, you want your email address to just contain your first and last names. If someone has already taken that username, you, then, have the option to add numbers. It’s less about having a unique username and more about ensuring that recruiters know it’s you who’s sending an email without checking their system on who ‘L0rd0fD@[email protected]’ is.
5. Keyword Stuffing
Stuffing your resume with irrelevant keywords could result in having your application rejected by employers. If the information contained in your resume isn’t relevant to the position you’re applying for, then, you’re not sure whether the information will be useful to recruiters.
A lot of companies use an applicant management system (AMS). As a job seeker, you have the option to upload your resume or fill out a form on a potential employer’s website. Similar to search engines, this machine uses keywords to sift through thousands of applications to retrieve relevant results for a particular position.
However, when you merely stuff your resume with keywords, even if you don’t have experience or knowledge about certain subjects or fields, you damage the recruiter’s perception of your integrity. This is because the act comes off as shady and deceitful. It seems like you’re trying to trick the hiring manager into giving you an interview even when you aren’t qualified for the role.
Conclusion
Don’t make these mistakes when writing your resume. Instead, take the time to craft a custom resume that create a great first impression on potential employers. This way, you show that you did your research and included all the necessary information and details required by the company about you and your skills. If you do this right, your resume will stand out among a sea of applications and land you a lot of job interviews.