Common Resume Mistakes And How To Fix Them

Searching for a job is super hard but there's something really maddening about trying to sell yourself on just a piece of paper.

But it's necessary and no matter how bad you are at it, you have to make sure that your resume is in top-class shape before sending it to any company. In a perfect world, everyone would be judged on their merits and accomplishments, and then be promptly called in for an interview that would pave the way towards your dream job.

But let's get real. Your potential employer has no time to skim through all those minute details of your resume and is taking literally four seconds to glance at it, and then making a snap decision whether that piece of paper jives well with the company or not.

You know your resume is the only thing that will help you make an impression. So, you have to make sure that your resume jumps out in the hands of recruiters, spells out your accomplishments in a glance, and simultaneously blows the competition out of the water in three seconds or less. For that, you need to make sure that there are no mistakes on that very important piece of paper.

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So, here are all the mistakes you are making on your resume:

1. Making your resume way too long

You may have a long list of places you might have worked at and sure it is important for an employer to know about it. We're not saying that your resume needs to be restricted to just a page but it's more important to highlight relevant skills and experience. The rest can be explained in the interview. If your resume is too cluttered, chances are your resume won't be shortlisted.

2. Writing an objective

Writing about your goals at the beginning of your resume sure seems like a good plan but it's outdated now. Instead of writing your goals, you can include a summary of your qualifications to give a quick snapshot of all your work. Think of this as a title for your resume where you list your most impressive facts: years of experience, areas of expertise, keys skills (soft and technical), and descriptors of your work style. Won't this look much better?

3. Use a clear font

This may seem quite unnecessary to you but it is a huge deal for an employer reading your resume. If you have a font that looks too fancy or crammed up, it is quite difficult for a person to read. Switch the font of your resume to Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana. So, make sure it¡¯s not hard to read (or stuck in Word¡¯s standard Calibri). Using a common, clear font may not make your resume the prettiest out there, but it will make it more readable (and less likely to be rejected by applicant tracking systems).

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4. Not updating your CV

Whenever you're sending your resume to a new company, the resume should always be up-to-date. Candidates should always customise their resume according to the job at hand so that the hiring manager doesn¡¯t have to try to make a leap to understand why they¡¯re even applying or interested in the job. It¡¯s far better to state a clear and consistent message that the job you¡¯re applying for is something you want to do and are qualified to do.

5. There shouldn't be any grammatical mistakes

It's probably the most obvious tip you will get but this actually happens quite a lot and it sure is a turn-off for the employers. This piece of paper is basically the only way your employer gets to know your work and if it has errors, they will think you're careless. If your resume isn't grammatically perfect, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like, "This person can't write," or, "This person obviously doesn't care." So, make sure your copy is as clean as a whistle.

6. Focusing on tasks, not accomplishments

Turning your resume into a list of tasks and duties is a common resume mistake you don¡¯t want to make. While it is important to list the things you are responsible for at your job, it is possibly more important to include your accomplishments. Simply listing tasks can be frustrating to the hiring manager, too. Plus, listing your accomplishments will separate you from the rest of the lot because it shows all the value you added to your previous company.

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7. Putting your education at the top of the resume

Unless you are applying for an internship (are a student) and have nothing to add to your resume or have graduated from an A-List college such as Harvard, your education qualifications barely make any difference to your employer. Always try to put your education qualifications at the bottom of your resume because the employers only check your experience and which company you have worked for.

8. Not focussing on keywords

We're not saying you keep changing your resume every time you send it to a different company. But well, you should always add keywords tailored especially to the company you're sending your resume to. Make slight tweaks here and there. Doing this makes the person reading it feel like you're a better fit and like that you're familiar with the credentials they're looking for.

9. Not adding your address

You may feel that your transparency will make potential employers very impressed but that is not the case when you're not a local. If you¡¯re not local, recruiters might not look any further. If you are, recruiters may take your commute time into account and turn you down if they think it would be too long. Moreover, adding a relocation package is an additional cost for recruiters and that is something no employer wants.

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Keeping the above points in mind, tailor your resume and get ready to shine.