Resume Mistakes that I see and you don’t

Whenever I search the web I always come across these very outdated but funny articles full of garbage resume advice that may have applied back in 1990. These so called career coaches preach the same stuff people back in 1950’s used to preach, keep your resume to one page, use thick paper, really?

Times have changed and it’s time to let go of many outdated resume writing habits.

The employer can find out everything about me, thus I have to list every single job I’ve had.

Students usually make this mistake, even recent graduates. Since most candidates lack experience they list all the jobs they have had in high school or during collage. Well many of these jobs are rarely have anything to do with the position at hand.

Sometimes it is better to omit one or two, being a volleyball referee might seem important to you as it shows community involvement and your love for sports. A recruiter or the hiring manger may take that as commitments and possible time off requests due to tournament scheduling.

Pro Tip: Call your previous employer and see if he would be willing to change your title. From janitor this could go to Facility maintenance coordinator. From laborer to agricultural industry Intern; I do not mean to imply that you should lie on your resume, but as a recruiter I often find that people hold titles that weaken their resume, customer service rep, sales, librarian, all of these jobs also carry the stigma of the work environment. A tech company may not want somebody from a government job due to the nature of bureaucracy, paperwork, standard operating procedures. Think about what potions you are applying for and ask yourself if your previous role is helping or hurting you.

My resume must be one page

Well that’s what people tell me, so I should try to cram everything in this Resume Template that I can.

This could have been true in 1990 when people did hold positions for several years and actually didn’t bother to change their mind about it. Well 20 years later people’s behavior changes, including the economy which made many seek new paths to follow.

People today tend to hold a diverse work history and a wide range of skills, thus it can be hard to show everything on a single page. People try to make the font tiny; the resume template formatting can be very hard to read. For certain positions I expect a resume to go to 2 pages and a one page resume makes me want to look for more candidates.

When would be a good time to use a one page resume template?

If you are a recent graduate, or you have held a few irrelevant positions; here we want to focus on your education, technical skills, involvements etc.

I should make my resume look really cool

As much as you want to show off your cool fancy bullet point skills and your ability to underline in various colors, it doesn’t do much for us recruiters, if anything we will smile and press delete. Keep it simple, bold, italicize, don’t use backgrounds don’t use weird margins and weird text boxes, don’t make it pink, red or orange just keep it simple.

Don’t Lie be absolutely truthful about everything and don’t embellish.

Here is the little truth, a good recruiter knows body language, and we see when you are hunched down, when you touch your nose, or your eye contact breaks or the move in your chair. So when you lie or are uncomfortable or don’t know what you are talking about we tend to probe.

So in that regard do not lie, however in order to get that interview you will have to learn how to embellish. Really think of everything you did at your job from a bird eye view and not from a task oriented perspective.

You answered phones, yes who did you deal with on the other end, what type of problems have you faced, how did you overcome them, what behavior have you implemented to resolve or eliminate this in the future. I could really go on and on but when you really get the most from every single task and duty you have held or been responsible for then you will be able to summarize your positions effectively.

I am going to spam my Resume to many jobs

Well no two jobs are truly alike and no company is the same. Instead of sending 50 resumes on a daily basis, you would much better be if you take the 5 to 10 resumes to align yourself better with what the job is looking for.

If the job requirement is to work with Excel, but instead you listed MS Office, well that makes me think that you don’t know Excel well and are just like everybody else. Listing (Excel – pivot tables, v-lookup, macros and able to construct relational databases) that makes me think you know your stuff. 

I don’t need a cover letter

Yes you do, and while we are on the subject of Cover Letters, please use the same formatting and style as you did on your resume. And NO you don’t have to actually write me a letter about where you grew up and what year you moved to a different city. Just tell me why you would be good for this job, and it does not have to be a whole page.

Use a Chronological Resume Template

If you don’t have a strong work history doesn’t use it. If you are trying to change careers don’t use it. The resume template that you chose should correspond your career level and bring forth the best in you. Sometimes listing your work experience only and right away may not be the best strategy for you.

Send the Resume and pray

Don’t just send the resume and call it quits, write a follow up e-mail, call the company, inquire via LinkedIn. These simple few actions could better your chances of landing an interview or the opportunity to get the recruiter on the phone.

I need to print my resume on expensive high quality resume paper.

Please save the 20 bucks you were going to pay FedEx or OfficeMax or wherever you do your printing. Nobody will say ‘wow this is amazing paper’ they will just wonder why you printed on strange paper.

I need to pay somebody to write it professionally

People who write resumes professionally simply do not make these mistakes and tend to ask the right questions. All the information is available to you already, figure out what you want to be long term, figure out the different roles you would have to hold in order to get there, target your resume to that first step and of you go.

For example

If you want to be a financial analyst, what steps would you have to take?

BA in business, economics, accounting, finance, statistics etc, internship or an entry level role such as a clerk or bookkeeper or a loan officer would get you closer right. So craft your resume towards an assistant role and the whole writing process will become much easier for you.

Have you found yourself following any of these little silly habits? Let me know below, to receive future updates about new blog posts please subscribe to my e-mail newsletter

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