You may just be the perfect fit for that job you’ve been eyeing for awhile, but if your resume doesn’t reflect it, no hiring manager will ever know. Here are a few mistakes you need to fix to make sure you give yourself the best possible chance to be noticed by employers.
- Grammatical and Spelling Errors
If you want a surefire way to turn employers off, then you should send a resume without proofreading it. There’s nothing hiring manager loathe more than spelling and grammatical errors.
Sure, we’re all human, and we all make mistakes, but you have no excuse for sending out a resume full of typos and grammatical errors since you’ve had plenty of time to double and triple-check everything after you’ve finished crafting it. It shows you lack attention to details or, even worse, that you don’t care enough to put in the effort for some spell checking.
- Incorrect Information
A resume writing service professional will confirm that employers don’t tolerate sloppiness, and if you show it to them before they’ve even had a chance to meet you at the interview, then you can start looking for a job somewhere else. Contact information, dates, and company names – check everything before sending out your resumes to employers.
- Irrelevant Work Experience
Summer jobs in high-school, short-lived stints in completely different industries, internships at your parent’s friend’s company – no one is interested in those. Sure, you may have been pretty proud of yourself for earning money in 10th grade, but keep it as a fun story to tell at parties.
Instead, focus on listing work experiences that are relevant to the job you’re applying for and that prove you’ve acquired the necessary skills for tackling the responsibilities listed in the job description.
- Hobbies
This is another irrelevant element that a lot of people put in their resumes, hoping to make a good impression. Not only that this is a waste of space you could be filling with something much more appropriate, but it’s also a waste of the employer’s time. And you wouldn’t want to give the impression that you don’t value your employer’s time, would you?
- Lack of Skills Section
Another common mistake candidates make with their resumes is leaving the “Skills” section incomplete or just plain empty. You may think employers aren’t necessarily interested in this section, but the reality is that a relevant set of skills for the job you’re applying for will catch the eye of any hiring manager.
However, don’t just write a list of skills and expect the reader to believe your self-characterization without a shred of proof. Make sure you offer examples of situations where you used those certain skills or what you did to gain them.
- Objective Statement
Objective statements are not relevant anymore since it’s pretty obvious what your intentions are by sending out a resume to a particular company. Employers know you want the job, so there’s no need to be redundant. Use this space in a more efficient manner.
- School Grades and Accomplishments
You’ve probably put in a lot of effort in school and college to get perfect grades, and it’s only natural to be proud of it. But understand that once you’ve finished your education, no one cares about that A+ paper you wrote or your GPA. Go ahead and remove these elements from your resume.
- Uncustomized Resumes
We know job hunting is a difficult process and that some people apply to dozens or even hundreds of positions before landing a job (or worst, an interview!) So, a lot of candidates send the same resume to save some time.
However, a resume with the same template as the first hundred the employer analyzed and with no relevant skills and work experiences only shows how little you’re interested in that particular company or job. Going out of your way to tailor your resume to the position you’re applying for is also a sign of respect for the employer, and will take you farther than you think.
Employers have raised resume standards, so it’s high time you stepped up your game if you want to keep up and successfully land the job of your dreams. Follow these tips and don’t forget to be yourself. Remember, at the end of the day, if you’re going to get hired, you might as well show your future boss, the real you!