We have gathered in one place 20 common mistakes made when creating a resume. Your employer is not interested to know where you worked 15 years ago or what your valid email address is. He/she doesn’t need a resume, written according to the rules of design that only you seem to know. Read about other mistakes below.
You will never get a second chance to make your first impression. It is not only important when meeting new people, but also when applying for a job. Unfortunately or fortunately, the first impression on the employer is made by your resume rather than by you. So you’d better make it perfect.
Here are 20 things that no one wants to see in your CV:
- The story of your life. Nobody cares about your summer job. Your goal is to include only the most important information in the resume; it should concern the position which you wish to get.
- A difficult and sloppy resume. The document should be simple and clear, so that the reader could quickly find all the important information.
- Vague phrases. “Looking for an interesting job with career growth” is a trite cliché, which is used by almost every second applicant. Read the job description again and focus on what you can give.
- Personal details. If you are not going to work as a sports journalist, mentioning your career is not important. The same applies to religious and political issues. This is funny, but many people do believe it is important.
- The abilities which everyone has. Using Excel? Seriously? Any contemporary person can boast of having this skill. If you have developed a free analogue of Excel, this is interesting, but if you have learned to build tables and insert formulas, don’t mention it.
- Unexplained gaps. If you quit your job and work as a freelancer for a year, it is better to mention this than to leave this period of one year a blank spot in your resume. If you worked as a freelancer and gained the skills that can be useful in this work, it would be even better to share this.
- Beautiful fonts and creative formats. Such resumes are more often put aside than read. Seriously. We have already written about it.
- Blank profiles in social networks. Your profile in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn is an important tool in the job search. If an employer likes your resume, he will surely find you in one of the social networks before inviting you for an interview.
- A detailed description of your previous responsibilities. Instead, concentrate on the results achieved.
- On increasing profits, reducing costs, or the release of a new successful product.
- Vague statements about success. If you have achieved something, you have to confirm this: “Completed project X on time” would not sound nice. It would be better to say: “Played a key role in the opening of a new branch. From the opening day, increased the client base by three times and the number of loyal customers – by 33%”.
- A brief list. Do not overdo with brevity. Enumerating all your skills in a short list is a bad idea. The resume should combine key events supported with facts and descriptions.
- A lie. It’s obvious. Nothing but the truth. As a rule, cheating is revealed sooner or later.
- Valid email address. Employees from the new company will not want to communicate with you using your old office address. It is better to use your personal mail.
- No references. Make a list with the names and contacts of people with whom you have worked and who could tell the employer about you.
- A universal resume. The employer does not want to see the same resume for the position of a marketer, an advertiser, a social media specialist and a programmer. Each position requires certain skills, and you should not be lazy to write a different resume.
- The header and footer. Some HR managers use special software to read resumes. Many of them fail to get the information from the footer, so do not use this option.
- Your position 15 years ago. There is an unspoken rule not to mention your positions, if they date back for more than 15 years.
