Resume Mistakes

 1.Leaving out dates –

 

If you think you can escape explaining why you have been job hopping all this while by not putting a date beside your job description, you're wrong. Leaving dates off your resume will surely cause eyebrows to raise and make people wonder what you've been up to lately. Leaving dates out might seem like you are trying to conceal certain information. If spacing is an issue, sometimes leaving out the months can be acceptable, but not the years.

 

 2.Misspelled words-

 

This is far and away the most common and surest way to destroy any chance you have of being considered for an interview. It is good to have the Spell check tool but the best proofreader is another set of eyes. Be sure that there are no spelling errors, wrong word choice or misuse of language. These mistakes are not acceptable as it might appear that you are negligent with your work. Spelling and grammatical errors on your resume send a message to recruiters that you were sloppy in your preparation and that you don't want the job badly. While that may not seem fair, it is a reality that most hiring managers react poorly to finding spelling errors on a resume or in a cover letter. Spelling and grammatical errors make your application for employment an easy "no" for a recruiter or hiring manager. Most word processing software includes a spell check function. Make sure that you use spell check and, if possible, also ask a friend to review your resume to see if there are any errors that you or the computer missed. Be accurate with your spelling or you may be out of luck with your job search.

 

 3.Do not compromise the truth on your resume-

 

Beyond the obvious ethical issues, experienced recruiters have a "sixth sense" and can usually discover a lie in an interview. No one wants to hire someone who may lack integrity. Everyone wants to present his or her work experience in the most attractive light, but information contained on your résumé must be true and accurate. Whether you're simply inflating past accomplishments or coming up with complete fabrications, lying is simply a bad idea. Aside from any moral or ethical implications, chances are you'll eventually get caught and lose all credibility.

 

 4.Confusing format-

 

Using a hard to read or confusing format. Potential employers will have approximately twenty seconds to scan your résumé. Because of the volume of résumés a potential employer must review, you should set yourself apart by using an easy-to-read format that quickly and easily conveys the essential facts about you. While the most important part of your resume is the content, there is no question that the document's overall look and feel is also important. Illogical order, disorganization, and inconsistent format make your resume difficult to read. By now, you should be comfortable enough with a word processing program to create a clean, polished document. Use consistent formatting for headings and bullet points.

 

 5.Unexplained employment gaps-

 

Think that you seeing Mr. Joseph's resume for the first time, and you do not know Mr. Joseph. Employment gaps of two months or more make you think that his departure from the first job was unexpected, and it took you a while to find another, which suggests that he may have been fired. If you see more than one such occurrence on any resume it's adios, amigo. If resume does not have a plausible explanation. Burying information that is important to a potential employer in the text or layout. You need to prioritize the information contained in your résumé, making what is most important about your professional experience the first thing that a potential employer will see. Omit information that is unnecessary or of minimal interest to the reader. Make sure that you account for any apparent time gaps on your resume and include dates for all education and employment. Make it easy for recruiters to understand where you have spent your time and include your dates of employment, the year you graduated from college, and the dates at which you worked for each employer. With that said if you have 20 or more years of experience you don't have to include your college work-study jobs or your first analyst job right out of college. But, it's important to account for your time. If you were unemployed for a few years because you stayed home to raise children it's ok to mention that on your resume. Make sure that recruiters don't have to guess how you have been spending your time because many recruiters will disqualify a resume that isn't easy to understand.

 

 6.Not explaining why you've sent sent in resumes -

 

Please do not forget one of the most important items besides a good resume - the cover letter. In the cover letter, you have the chance to state why you are sending your resume and for what job position. This would ensure that your resume would not be dumped into the rubbish bin.

 

 7.Postal Address, email address and phone number –

 

These are very imporatant to contact you.If you do not mention, it is a big mistake

 

 8.No clear focus-

 

Your résumé should show a clear match between your skills and experience and the job's requirements. A general résumé with no sharp focus is not seen as competitive. Why are you the best person for this particular position?

 

 9.Important skills missed-

 

Don't forget to highlight the important skills that make you a standout in your field. Your objective is to play up the value that you will bring to a prospective employer. Emphasize how you will add worth to the company, not the reason you want the job. Employers are looking for someone to enhance the organization, not their own résumé.

 

 10.Too lengthy or too short-

 

Almost everyone tells that a resume should not exceed two pages plus a cover letter. This is good advice; please take it. When describing your work experience you should make sure that your explanation isn't so brief that the depth of your experience doesn't shine through. But also make sure that you don't turn your career into the great American novel. Explain what you have done focusing on results and achievements. Don't be repetitive or over-explain. As a general rule of thumb, if your resume exceeds 2 pages, re-evaluate the amount of information you included. There are cases in which a resume in excess of two pages is appropriate but most people find two pages to be plenty of room in which to describe what they have accomplished.

 

 11.Poor Descriptions of Experience and Education-

 

You need to give the reader an idea of what you have done throughout your career, but instead of focusing on the duties you were responsible for at your previous jobs, list your accomplishments along with quantifiable facts to back up your claims. Saying you were responsible for a 10 percent growth in overall sales is more impressive than simply stating you worked on a sales team. Your resume needs to make a bold, strong statement, and the best way to do this is by utilizing action words to describe your accomplishments. Words like "coordinated," "achieved," "managed," and "implemented" will spice up your resume and make it more interesting and relevant to the reader. In addition, you do not need to list your related course work if it is implied by your major; although special projects and professionally relevant courses can be cited.

 

 12.Too much emphasis on old jobs-

 

Résumés that go too far back into the job seeker's work history can put that person at risk for possible age discrimination. Does anyone really need to read about your high school job bagging groceries, especially when that was 20 years ago? The rule of thumb for someone at a senior level is to list about the last 15 years worth of professional experience.