Your resume is a laconic conclusion of your education, work experiences, and skills. It shouldn’t mention a high school diploma but should paint you as an impeccable professional with the necessary qualifications for the position.
Before getting started, think about your strengths. What makes you a unique applicant who deserves to join this company? If you’re not a good writer, find the resume writing service on Skillhub to jumpstart your career.
Once you have thought about who writes your resume and how you want to be posed in front of a recruiter, let’s get the job done. But don’t you dare to repeat the mistakes we’ll describe in this article!
Grammar and Style Errors
We should be honest: NOBODY will continue reviewing your resume if it has any mistakes. There are hundreds of online tools to check your grammar, and it’s silly (sorry for such a radical comparison) not to check the text for errors before you send it.
Here’s the list of common misspellings job seekers make:
- Missing letters or words: simply “mechanical” error, which can be fixed during the first proofreading;
- Talking about former jobs in the present tense: your current job is the one to talk about in the present tense; all the other ones are history now.
Keep in mind to be attentive to details. It will tell the employers you’re a serious candidate who can successfully build relationships with co-workers, supervisors, and clients.
Communicating in Passive Voice
When using passive voice in a resume, you replace the object of action with the sentence’s subject. No wonder that sounds confusing. Imagine how it must feel for career field experts when they review many applications!
The resume is not a fancy read, and if you write it in the passive voice, it gets even more boring. The career advisors recommend using active voice instead to avoid prepositional phrases.
Compare the effect of passive/active voice in the following examples:
Passive: ”…promotion to senior manager was given to me after only six months of working at the company.“
Active: ”…promoted to senior manager after only six months.”
Passive: ”…35% revenue growth was realized in our team over three years.“
Active: ”…team achieved a 20% revenue growth over three years.”
The compelling “action” words add to your resume dynamic and create a positive first impression. This might play to your advantage in the future as a prospective employee.
Going Through All Possible Experiences
Probably, every second candidate thinks it’s better to include all jobs and occupations they’ve been to, just in case the recruiter notices.
Honestly, not a wise decision. Performing a job search, make sure to include only workplaces that are relevant to specific positions. It’s great that you’ve been on many teams and can share insights from different industries, but not at the initial point of a hiring process.
Imagine yourself as a hiring manager who has to choose between two applicants: one has proven productive work at the related company, and the other has done plenty of volunteer camps and freelance work on top of some months of relevant experience.
Who would you give the job to?
Copy-Pasting Internet Templates
How often have you read the phrase “customize your resume”? Be ready to hear about it again because it’s one of those factors that work!
On one side, you can create a master resume template (not copy one from Google or Microsoft Word), but you still have to update it depending on the job opportunities. Most applicants won’t consider adding one or two more relevant skills, risking their spot at the company. Don’t make the same mistake.
What can you do to customize a resume?
- Insert the keywords to pass Applicant Tracking System (ATS) bots, take them from a job description;
- Highlight the key strengths;
- Include only relevant job history in a reverse-chronological mode;
- Add the training certifications that might play to your advantage.
Getting into the job market is a tough call. And if you’re not getting any more callbacks, maybe it’s time to re-assess your job application. Take some time to make a resume visually attractive for recruiters, as they will spend only a few seconds scanning it!
Making It Long With Unnecessary Information
First, unless you apply for an executive position, your resume must not be longer than one page. It does not mean you should abbreviate. Review a ready paper a few times and think about the data you might skip without affecting the context.
Here’s the contact information to put on top of the resume in 100% of cases:
- Your full name;
- Your address (you may not specify the details, at least share the city you’re based in);
- Correct email and phone number.
If anything else pops up in your head (such as your picture or reference list), skip it. The recruiter will ask the necessary questions during an interview. Otherwise, you must be interesting enough to make them want to call you.
Summary of the Main Points
Everyone makes mistakes. And a hiring process is not an exception.
Having years of practice, hiring managers can see the blind spots from the very beginning. They won’t look at your resume, even if you’re a skilled professional. They will toss it over and look at another one.
Submitting a job application feels like a “hot potato” game until you know the rules. You may research the vacancy a little more or ask the former employees for feedback to get an inside picture of the job. This way, you’ll know exactly what the recruiters would love to see in applications.
To enter the new corporate world, just be yourself. Avoid such mistakes as being inconsistent or repeatable; make your resume template, but keep updating it depending on requirements; by following those simple steps, you won’t notice how quickly you’ll get a dream job.