 Writing a resume is not particularly easy and very few get it right. Editing and keeping out what is not required in your resume is equally important. You have so much riding on that document that there is little margin for making any errors. Here are the top mistakes that you must avoid.
Don’t Put a Picture on the Resume A picture on your resume is a mistake, according to many resume experts. Of course, if your resume is for an industry such as acting, or modeling, your headshot means a lot. But in others, a picture can lead to instant rejection. If you want to show off your pretty click, do it on LinkedIn, not your resume. However, if you are applying outside the United States, this practice is more common on an international CV. Don’t Use Unusual Fonts Every candidate believes that they must try something different and unique to stand apart. Hiring managers also look for candidates with a different approach. Do not apply that to fonts. Many organizations sort resumes using some type of tracking software and prioritize them based on automated screening processes (ATS systems). They are designed to recognize commonly used fonts, but many do not process fonts that are rarely used, especially in a resume. Also, fonts that are different from the usual ones may not be accepted by recruiters and hiring managers and may impact their decision-making process. Your resume may risk being overlooked just because you used a different font from others. Don’t Experiment With Complex Resume Formats The explanation for not using complex resume formats is similar to the font argument. The risk elements are the same. Your aim is to make sure the resume can be easily read. If you introduce any unusual or atypical format, it will be difficult to process the information you have provided. You may argue about the creative factor, but there is a good chance that many will find the attempt jarring. So why take a risk? Don’t Use Polarizing Colors When utilized wisely, colors can add clarity to your resume and help you emphasize on specifics. However, some candidates get carried away and go overboard with the color schemes. Too many colors can damage the first impression. Experts say blue and gray are the safest colors to use, and they look good on the computer screen too. A green and red color combo is also a popular choice. Candidates generally avoid using yellow, orange, and other similar ‘flashy colors’ on their resumes because they don’t show up well on the screen. Don’t Address Yourself In First Person A resume doesn’t have a subject. The general agreement is that you should not address yourself in the first person. The resume is no place for an I, me, mine type of approach in a resume. The verb or action you choose to describe your specialty must not have any of the above. Don’t Fake Employment Data The dates of employment on your resume must strictly match those in the employment or payroll records. They must also match the data posted in your LinkedIn profile and the answers you provided in the interview. If there is any date of data variation related to past employment records, it will likely be viewed as misrepresentation or carelessness. If you cannot remember months, use years only. Months can be clarified later on in the hiring process. Your resume is targeted to get you into the interview. Don’t Include Graduation Dates If you are a new job seeker, it is reasonable to display your graduation date on your resume. If you are already into your career for around five years or more, your work experience must take prominence over your graduation. Don’t include your graduation date if you have built up a career already. Your work experience is what counts in such cases. Don’t Include Volunteer Work That’s Not Relevant It’s a good move to add volunteer work in your resume, however it is best that they reflect aspects most relevant to your current job target. Notably, include work that is exceptional and undertaken recently. For instance, any pre-college volunteer work need not be mentioned in the resume if you have never done a similar job and have been working for over a decade. Don’t Add Outdated Credentials Adding credentials and certifications to the resume can boost its value, but only if they are current. Adding credentials that are time-lapsed might probably be viewed as negative. Don’t List Every Online Class You Have Taken You might be keen to make your resume lengthy and comprehensive but adding every online class you have taken is not the best way of achieving your goal. It might reflect your love for remaining updated and your passion for learning, but some hiring managers might not like the idea. Make sure you limit the list of online courses to ones that are relevant to your job and can add more value to your candidature. Don’t Mention Irrelevant Jobs Many applicants are confused about the number of jobs they should show in a resume. There is no standard number to this. Adding jobs relevant to your current application is a better way of showcasing your achievements. Hiring managers like to check your past. It tells them about your experience and whether you can be trusted to continue in the organization for a longer time. Providing your hiring managers with too much information can create potential red flags. It may also make the resume appear complicated. If you have changed jobs more frequently than an average employee, eliminating some of them is a good idea, especially the irrelevant ones. If you want to be honest, these jobs can be summarized in a different section. Don’t Allow Errors Every employer loves a resume that provides a detailed and accurate picture. Your resume is viewed as a measure of your competency, accuracy, and attention to detail. If you provide information accurately and avoid errors, you can gain an early advantage. Review your resume for spelling errors, grammatical errors, and typos. Ask a third person to read and review it to make it more foolproof. Don’t Send the Wrong Document Format If you apply online, nearly all job portals insist on txt (ATS-friendly) or PDF submission of a resume. A PDF document retains the format regardless of the environment in which it opens. If you open a Google Doc in a word app, the layout doesn’t remain the same, and even the font changes at times. Some unique features, such as bullet points, disappear entirely or appear differently. That’s why always ensure the resume is presented in a PDF format, but if the company specifies a specific submission format, you must send the document in that format. Don’t Use Subjective Language With more people vying for different positions at the same time, your application will likely compete with thousands of submissions. To improve your chances of getting selected, avoid mistakes like using subjective language in the resume. Hiring managers are looking for information that can help them choose you over others. Help them by providing information that can clearly identify the roles and responsibilities you can handle in your new job, as well as demonstrating your past achievements to show how you can potentially add value to a new organization. Don’t Embellish or Present Wrong Information Deliberately The stakes of hiring are extremely high in a job market that’s uncertain and has limited funds for hiring and training. Hiring professionals are stretched to the extreme and must work hard by putting in long hours. They are adept at screening resumes and can quickly detect the good ones from the bad. While facing such qualified hiring managers, it is not at all advisable to indulge in lying or embellishing your resume with incorrect information. Highly trained professionals generally have a firm grip on the core capabilities required for a job opening. They are also typically adept at detecting falsification or input that doesn’t seem to add up. Any attempt to add wrong information deliberately to mislead the hiring managers is futile. They will see through the effort quickly, and the loss will be yours entirely. Conclusion Resume writing is a tricky and complex task but it will be less cumbersome for those who have researched the market and know what present-day hiring managers and recruiters are looking for. Still, it involves some complicated balancing of highlighting the most crucial parts of the resume, establishing your specialties, and customizing the writing to match the demands of the role you are required to perform in the new organization. Don’t make the resume writing process even more complicated by allowing common mistakes to creep in. Skilled hiring managers with years of experience will use this mistake to eject you out of the race quickly. By avoiding the top mistakes generally committed in writing resumes, you can quickly increase your chances of getting to the next step in the interview ladder.  You may believe that in a world of social media and online applications that a resume is not necessary. This article will offer a number of ways a resume is beneficial to your job search, all of which are designed to help you succeed in your job search. We’ll review the importance of customization, best resume format, and the various resume sections you need to include, to name a few. Let’s get started with our review of the key resume tips you need to keep in mind when creating yours. 1. A resume is a marketing tool. The sad truth is that most people do not write particularly well. Make sure that your resume is impeccably written, and make sure it stands out. A well-constructed resume conveys that you’re an organized person. Concise resume language gives the feeling that you’re a no-nonsense individual who gets right to the point. A great resume can convince a hiring manager that you have the background that will be an asset to the company and can compel them to contact you for an interview. 2. It helps the hiring manager decide that you have the necessary skills and experiences. A well-written, concise resume does the job of quickly telling the hiring manager that you’re the answer to their problems. When you’re writing your resume, be sure to use clear, succinct language, and focus on your achievements (especially the ones that are quantifiable), rather than on your job duties or tasks. One of the biggest resume tips you can keep in mind is this: the purpose of the resume is to sell you, and what you can do to help a company succeed. The purpose of the resume is to not catalog all of your duties and tasks from the past. 3. Customization is key. A question I’m frequently asked is whether or not it’s necessary to customize the resume for each application. My answer is always a resounding YES. This is one the key resume tips! You have only about six seconds to impress the reader, so be sure that your resume speaks to exactly what the company is seeking. You do this by studying the job description and optimizing your resume with relevant keywords. 4. Your resume helps with your personal branding. A resume is a marketing document that you craft to sell yourself. But in addition to that, it is also a component of your brand. You want to ensure that your resume conveys the key messages of your brand; that is, what your strengths are, what you can deliver on, and what you’re passionate about. 5. Add a little humanity and originality. Let’s face it, most resumes read pretty much the same, and most of them are boring and sterile. How many resumes for a PR Director role can someone read before they all begin to blur together? Every single applicant is going to say they’re expert at media relations and that they’ve overseen a team of communications professionals. Say something different and say something that makes you sound like an actual person and not a machine. Here’s one of my key resume tips: Instead of writing something like “Crisis communications expert who maximizes brand potential via various channels” in the Summary section of your resume, try “I don’t put out fires. I start them. I ignite excitement and engagement among clients. When something inevitably explodes, I add another log to the fire.” A resume remains one of the foundational tools in the job seeker’s toolkit. Hiring managers and recruiters still want resumes, and they want them to be easy to read and to quickly answer the key questions they have. A good resume is one that benefits both the hiring manager and the job seeker; hopefully, the resume tips offered here will put you on the path to success with creating yours!   With just a few brief seconds to make that first impression, your resume MUST have that WOW factor to stand out among the competition. 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INTERESTING FACTS: Statistics show a professionally written resume can make you... ⬛ 38% More likely to get Contacted by Recruiters. ⬛ 40% More likely to Land the Job. ⬛ 31% More likely to get the Interview. *2009 Be Satisified Resume Rewrite Impact Survey Only 2% of resumes make it past the first round. Be in the top 2%. Your resume describes your qualifications and what makes you unique. To stand out among other applicants, you need a resume that markets your strengths and match for the job. A great resume:
According to Forbes, job seekers are 40% more likely to get noticed with a professionally written resume. The image your professionally written resume portrays can mean a difference of $10,000 or more in salary once you've demonstrated the value you bring to the employer. Did you know that 75% of resumes never get read by a human being? We can help you beat the bots! When you apply for a job online, your resume isn’t typically going directly to a recruiter or hiring manager. It’s first being processed by an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). Whether that human recruiter ever sees your resume could depend on how well your resume is optimized for ATS algorithms. We know how to format your resume and what keywords to include for your industry in order to help get your resume into the hands of the recruiters and hiring managers. Let's work together to generate a WINNING resume to get you noticed, hired, and/or promoted! Check out our resume packages and pricing here: https://www.reveredresumes.com/pricing--packages.html |
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