Common Resume Mistakes to Avoid

Is your resume stopping you from getting enough attention from recruiters even though you possess the desired skills, experience, and qualifications?

Well! When it comes to crafting resumes, most of the candidates prioritize the demonstration of their skills, qualifications, and other relevant details and hardly focus on the use of grammatically correct words and phrases. Your poor choice of words or your inadequate attention to grammar in your resume could be the foremost factor stopping you from landing your dream job.

Amidst the rapid pace of increasing competition in the job market at present, it is of utmost importance that you hold a well-crafted resume. There are some common errors that jobseekers or working professionals often need to correct while creating or updating their resumes. This article aims to identify and discuss common resume mistakes that you must avoid, along with easy-to-understand examples. 

1. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

One of the most common resume mistakes candidates make is spelling and grammatical errors. No matter how small or simple the spelling or grammatical errors are, those are enough to leave a poor impression on hiring managers. Hence, it is essential that you set some time aside and meticulously proofread your resume before submitting your job application. In fact, it is suggested that you get your resume crosschecked by a second person, who might be your friend, colleague, or family member.

Example: While describing your job roles and responsibilities, you write, “My responsibilities was to lead a team, handle customer queries, and acheive sales targets”. Can you find the grammatical and spelling mistakes in this line? The grammatical error is the use of “was” instead of “were” and the spelling mistake is “acheive” instead of “achieve.” Hence, the correct sentence should be, “My responsibilities were to lead a team, handle customer queries, and achieve sales targets.”

2. Overloading the resume with buzzwords and acronyms

With the intention of making their resumes more attractive and setting themselves apart, candidates often use flowery language, buzzwords, and acronyms. Loading your resume with too many trendy terms or complicated words might make it look less original and credible. Hence, it is necessary that you stick to simple and common words and language that can help your hiring manager grasp your resume easily. Remember, your advanced skills, competencies, and qualifications are enough to set you apart from other applications.

Example: In place of “I implemented cutting-edge solutions for bringing revolutionary results,” write “I initiated changes that helped in reducing the project time by 20%.” This type of sentence with clear and specific results mentioned catches the attention of hiring teams better than buzzwords. However, this does not mean that you use a tone or word that is too casual. For instance, using a sentence such as “My leadership qualities have always been off the chain” does not look professional and can be misinterpreted by the hiring team.

3. Using passive language

Another common resume mistake that can create a negative impression on hiring teams is the use of passive language. It is often found that candidates use passive language to demonstrate their past job roles and responsibilities, thinking that it would highlight their skills and achievements in a better way. However, to make your resume more compelling, you must use active language. 

Example: Rather than writing, “Day-to-day reports and annual reports were prepared by me in detail and submitted to the manager,” write, “Prepared and submitted detailed day-to-day reports and annual reports to the manager.” The second sentence better highlights your role, demonstrating ownership, making an impact, and elevating your resume.

Also read: The Hidden Benefits of a Career in Contingent Work

4. Lack of consistency in formatting

Just like grammatical errors, messy or inconsistent formatting can make you look unprofessional even if you possess all the required qualifications and skills. Formatting does not mean that you ought to use lots of bullets, numbers, subheadings, words in underlines and italics, etc. It only means that the fonts that you are using for headings, subheadings, and normal text should be consistent, spacing between lines and paragraphs should be even, and bullets or numbering should be consistent. The goal is to keep your resume clean and easy to read.

Example: If you use Arial for your headings and Times New Roman for the normal text, it will lead to visual chaos. Likewise, to polish your headings and subheadings, it is recommended that you embolden them and magnify their font size. It is also important to use clear bullet points under your headings and subheadings like “Skills,” “Qualifications,” and “Work Experience” for enhanced readability and visual appeal.

5. Over-focusing on job roles and responsibilities

One of the most common resume mistakes that candidates fail to recognize is listing only their job roles and responsibilities in generic sentences without highlighting their accomplishments. When you add clear accomplishments under your work experience, hiring managers find it easier to understand how you added value to the team or organization.

Example: Suppose you are applying for a Customer Service Lead position. Instead of writing, “Handled or managed customer queries,” try “Resolved 90% of customer queries on the first contact, leading to an increase in customer satisfaction ratings by 20% in a year.” By quantifying the results that you achieved, you can efficiently shed light on your efficiency and the way in which you made a positive impact on customer experience.

6. Including irrelevant personal information

Modern-day resumes solely focus on professional background, educational background, skills and knowledge, certifications, etc. The inclusion of personal information related to age, religion, marital status, etc., is an outdated approach to resume building. Such irrelevant information diverts hiring teams from the core professional details required for the job role. 

Example: Skip including details like “Married, Age 30, Christian” into your resume. Instead, keep your resume solely focused on your professional skills and accomplishments that best align with the job requirements and norms.

7. Providing outdated or unprofessional contact information

When you update your resume, make it a point to update your contact details including your email address and phone number. With an outdated email address or phone number, you might seem to be out of touch, making it difficult for hiring teams to connect with you for a suitable job opportunity. It is equally important to replace an unprofessional email handle with a simple and professional one. 

Example: Some candidates name their personal email address as “coolguy123@gmail.com” or “angel1998@gmail.com”. You must avoid including such email addresses in your resume and replace them with something professional, such as “david.smith@gmail.com” or “david.s@gmail.com.” By paying attention to such minute details, you can ensure giving a refined and professional touch to your resume.

8. Prioritizing hard skills only

It is true that the demonstration of hard or technical skills is crucial to secure a job in the current job market. However, you cannot completely ignore your soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, teamwork, decision-making, etc., from your resume, especially when you are applying for supervisor or leadership positions. You need to strike the right balance between your hard and soft skills to generate a well-rounded profile.

Example: A hiring manager for the position of project manager might prioritize your proficiency in project management software or tools like JIRA and Trello. However, showcasing your leadership skills and describing how you led your team successfully to complete projects under strict deadlines will make you stand out.

9. Lack of online presence

Considering the advancements and innovations in technologies in the digital era, it is necessary for job seekers to build and maintain an online presence. Hiring managers and employers often utilize social media platforms to verify your authenticity and assess your professional network. 

Example: By creating and maintaining a LinkedIn profile, you can showcase your work experience, achievements, skills, and certifications that might not fit into your resume. In fact, by utilizing the LinkedIn platform, you can publish articles, post and share your thoughts and opinions, providing the right grounds for hiring managers to judge your personality. Besides a LinkedIn profile, you can also create a work portfolio or personal website to display your work. 

10. Making a lengthy resume

Another misstep that belongs to the category of common resume mistakes is drafting a long resume of more than 5 to 6 pages. Irrespective of your work experience, you need to ensure that your resume does not exceed 4 pages. Keeping in mind the urgency to fill a position and the large volume of applicants, hiring teams usually spend a few minutes scanning resumes. As such, if you apply with a lengthy resume, it is likely to get less attention.

Example: If you are someone with more than 20 years of experience, then instead of describing all your previous job roles in detail, consider demonstrating and highlighting roles and achievements from the last 10 years of your work history. If you are a fresher, it is recommended that you craft a 1-page resume, highlighting your qualifications, certifications, and soft skills.

11. Overloading the resume with visuals

With the emergence of the latest digital tools and templates, candidates today get the opportunity to make their resumes attractive using various icons, infographics, and colorful sections. While using such visuals can make your resume stand out, overusing them can lead to a negative impression. 

Example: You choose a resume template with excessive colors and use multiple fonts and messy graphics to make your resume appealing. While doing so, you may compromise professionalism, causing hiring managers to deviate from your skills and qualifications. Hence, it is suggested that you go for a clean and minimalistic design and aim for simple icons and relevant visuals that can best highlight the key professional information.

12. Using a generic resume for all job applications

A major tip and trick to creating a high-quality resume is to tailor it to a specific job role. In the current competitive landscape of the employment market, a one-size-fits-all resume would not oscillate with hiring managers looking for specific skills and experience. As such, you need to focus on the job role and responsibilities given in the job description and customize your resume accordingly.

Example: While applying for a sales role, you need to focus your resume on your customer relationship management skills, sales goals’ achievements, etc. On the other hand, when you are applying for a marketing position, your priority should be highlighting your skills and experience in managing marketing campaigns, data analytics, etc.

Conclusion

There are lots of pitfalls that can make your resume to be wide of the mark. All you need to do is remain extra aware while crafting your resume. Resume plays a vital role in your job search, and thus, you need to avoid making the most common resume mistakes, which are highlighted in this article. No matter whether you utilize your professional network or friends to get job references, ultimately, you need to submit your resume to the hiring team.

Already polished your profile by avoiding these common resume mistakes? Then, submit your resume, and let us find the right job opportunity for you!
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