We’ve been looking at resumes for the last 20+ years and after having many and we mean many pass across our desk, we’ve seen enough mistakes to write a book about them… but for the sake of time, we think highlighting just 3 or 4 will be beneficial for job seekers looking to find their place in a new role today.
Your resume is just one piece of paper but holds such enormous power over your future. On the surface, a resume is simply a list of qualifications for a position. But resumes normally get less than a 15-second glance at the first screening. So to stand out from the crowd and score face time with hiring managers, it should serve as a strategic marketing tool that screams, “I am perfect for this job!” The following tips have been designed to assist you in writing your resume; it reflects the expertise of dozens of industry hiring managers that have critiqued thousands of resumes.
Spelling and grammatical errors.
Editing your resume to omit spelling and grammatical errors may just seem obvious, but in fact, these mistakes top the list of deal-breakers for our clients when reviewing who to interview. It can be hard to spot these types of simple, yet noticeable, errors on your resume. Grab a second set of eyes from your partner or a trusted friend to give you honest feedback and ensure your resume is error-free! By all means, this one thing along may be the difference you landing the job against the talent that’s stacked up against you!
Using an unprofessional email address.
Gone are the days where “CaliFan253@aol.com” is an email address worthy of playing on a resume. While you may be a standout Cali fan, having an email that is professional goes a long way. Typically we suggest a first name and last name be included in your email. As for the platform you select to host your email, that’s a personal preference.
Along the lines of having a professional email address, if the goal of a resume is to land you an interview, missing pertinent contact information, or the contact information you’ve included is incorrect, you’re making it very difficult for recruiters and hiring managers to get in touch with you!
Extra tip: Forego adding your contact information on your resume in the header portion of a Word document or paste your contact information in as an image. Applicant tracking systems and today’s bot systems often cannot read that information and will list your contact details as missing or incomplete in the system.
Failing to outline quantifiable results.
As a recruiter, we have one main job… to find the BEST candidates for our clients. When your resume fails to mention your accomplishments and how you can better our client’s business we have no reason to move forward in the interview process with you. Showcase your results in your resume. Results are best described as quantifiable results. These can include business growth numbers, improved retention stats, increased production, and so on. Without demonstrating or providing quantifiable results, it might appear that you had “responsibilities,” yet didn’t take initiative or achieve actual results.
Your resume is longer than two pages.
Ask any recruiter, and you will hear that any resume beyond two pages does not get a full look. When filtering through resumes, time is of the essence so communicating your prior work history, current skills and quantifiable results in a summary format is the key to success.
For a sample resume, visit our website.
If you have stellar resume suggestions, feel free to comment below. We’ve love to hear your feedback.
