Research has it that your resumé gives you a 70% chance of landing your dream job. In other words, there is no better way to make a good first impression except with your resumé. Now, what happens if your resumé becomes your deal breaker? This is a detailed guide on how to avoid the top 10 worst resumé mistakes. Interestingly, at the end of this piece, you will get all the information you need to write your resumé with zero errors !!!
Welcome aboard !!!
What You Don’t Know About resumé Mistakes !!!
What most job seekers don’t know about job hunting is that recruiters really look at their CV. And when they do, they carefully identify your strengths, weakness, plausible lies and mistakes. One thing these resumé mistakes do is that it gives a bad first impression of you; and at worst, it will cost you the job. (I’m sure you wouldn’t want either of the two!)
Approximately 70% of employers say that certain resumé mistakes are deal breakers. Now, these mistakes would cause them to reject a candidate before they’ve even finished reading the application. What this means is that your resumé will not make it any further than a first glance. Understanding what these resumé mistakes are is one step to avoiding them. Therefore, we have put together 10 worst resumé mistakes job seekers should avoid to avoid getting the “Rejection Stamp”. These most common deal-breakers are from the stables of recruiters. Keep Reading to discover them!!!
10 Worst resumé Mistakes To Avoid
It’s one thing to write a resumé, and it’s another thing for the employer to go through it. To write a resumé with zero error, follow the guideline below. We have put together 10 resumé mistake to avoid. They include;
Vague Employment Dates
An error free resumé should have a clearly stated employment date. This includes the month, not just the year of employment. When the recruiters see dates on your resumé that is void of months, they assume something’s wrong. Sadly, most recruiters will view you as dishonest. This often results in you picking your resumé in a trash can.
To avoid this, include your employment date with months inclusive. Second, arrange your resumé in a chronological order. From recent employment, till the beginning.
Including a Photo
Most job seekers say “The pictures make the resumé look good”. Sadly, this is a huge resumé mistake. Do not include a photo to your resumé. Recruiters are not looking for what looks good. They are looking for a standard; something more professional.
Bolding the Wrong Information
Yeah, you are wondering why is that? To make your resumé free from errors, do not bold the wrong information. This is often a common resumé mistake. Now here’s how to avoid this. Do not bold the company you worked for rather bold your position with the company. However, an exception to that is if the company is highly recognizable (Facebook, Google, etc.). Also, you can bold the headings and subheadings.
Making Claims Without Measurable Evidence
Sadly, many job seekers fall prey to this resumé mistake. Now, if you’re going to boast about increasing sales support these claims with tangible statistics and how you accomplished them. If you’re going to boast of improving process efficiency, there should be an explanation of how you did that. That will save your resumé from the trash can.
Choosing a Bad File Name and Format
A lot of times, job seekers send in resumés using names or description that are not theirs. Resumés saved in such a way do not make it to the recruiter’s table. Often, they regard it as a spam and wouldn’t open it. Therefore, when sending in your resumé to the recruiters, name your resumé by your first and last name. Also, send in either docx or PDF.
Other Resumé Mistakes to Avoid
Including Personal Hobbies and Obvious Skills
Leave your personal interests out of your resumé unless it relates to the job. Your employers absolutely do not care if you love watching the Office or ROK2. Not that they’re wrong, however those details can wait. Like a recruiter said, “We’ll get to know you better if we hire you.” Untill then, it’s a resumé mistake !!!
Also, do not include obvious skills such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office. Employers need something more out of the regular. Therefore, use that space to highlight more advanced technical tools e.g., SQL, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Mixpanel and Adobe Creative Suite.
Giving a Non-descript Aim
Your aim tells the employer of your interest in the role. Therefore, do not have an aim that looks like ‘I want to work at X company in Y role.’ That’s a no-brainer. Your aim should answer the questions “What do you want to do with your career? What do you want to bring to a company?” If you can’t come up with something unique and engaging, leave the aim off your resumé altogether. Although it’s important, we can omit it.
Failing to Delete Irrelevant Work Experience
One resumé mistake many people make is that they feel obligated to include every job. Your resumé must not include all your work experience. You can skip part-time work, or other side jobs that you did to make some cash. Include work experiences that are related to the job. Therefore, it’s not out of place to delete irrelevant work experience. This will make your resumé more concise and straight to the point.
Getting Too Cute With the Design
Do not be fooled into believing that a resumé that looks good makes it to the decision table. That’s falsehood. A big time resumé mistake. Recruiters prefer a resumé that has a clean and simple-to-read layout. Simplicity makes it considerable for reading. Don’t forget that employers read hundreds and thousands of resumés and want to find what they are looking for. So keep it simple!!!
Ignoring Application Instructions
What’s the need for submitting a resumé when you will not stick to the instruction? Do not make the mistake of submitting a resumé which is not in line with the application instruction. Most employers will require a resumé with a cover letter attached. If that’s the case with yours, you might need to limit some information on your resumé. Because of lack of following directions, most employers weed out a huge portion of applicants before even reading the resumé.
Conclusion On Resumé Mistakes To Avoid
We hope this piece was enlightening. Explore other posts on our site that will aid your improve your work performance and help in your job search.
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