Resume Mistakes To Avoid To Make A Good Resume

Resume Mistakes To Avoid To Make A Good Resume The 10 worst resume mistakes to avoidCommon resume mistakes are deceptively easy to make. Youve been applying to jobs like crazy, but it seems as though all of your applications have disappeared into the black hole of the Internet. Wondering why your resume isnt getting you any interviews? Were willing to bet its bedrngnis because youre unqualified or just not good enough (which, for the record, you are good enough). Its likely because resume mistakes are causing one or mora fatal errors.Job seekers, beware All it takes is just one to strike your job search dead in its tracks. Definitely something entry-level workers need to be on the lookout for when writing your first resume.Think your resume is bulletproof? Even the fruchtwein experienced professionals still find themselves guilty of making resume mistakes. Plural.With only a mere six seconds to wow a recruiter, having any kind of mistake on your resume is not a risk eve n the most daring of job seekers should take. After all, your resume is the first point of contact you make with a potential employer, so you want that first impression to be a strong, clear demonstration of just how awesome you are at what you do. Thats how you get an interviewand then once you rock that, a job.As you write your resumeor give your resume its six-month updatemake sure it doesnt include any of unterstellung common resume mistakes listed below.1. Typos and grammatical errorsYes, we know, its probably the most obvious of all resume tips It needs to begrammatically perfect. If your resume isnt, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like,This person cant write, or, This person obviously doesnt care.2. Lack of specificsYour resume shouldnt simply state the obvious to a hiring manager. Employers need to understand what youve done and accomplished. For exampleA. Worked with employees in a restaurant settingB. Recruited, hire d, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual salesBoth of these phrases could describe the same person, but the details and specifics in example B will more likely grab an employers attention.3. Attempting the onesizefitsall approachWhenever you try to develop ageneric resumeto send to all job ads, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Your lack of effort screams, Im not particularly interested in your company. Frankly, any ol job will do.Employers want to feel special and want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.4. Highlighting duties instead of accomplishmentsYour resume needs to show how good you are at your job, but its all too easy to slip into a mode where you simply abflug listing your duties. For exampleAttended group meetings and recorded minutesWorked with children in a day-care settingU pdated departmental filesThats more or less an echo of your job description. Employers, however, dont care so much about what youve done aswhat youve accomplishedin your various activities. One of the most basic resume tips is to go beyond showing what was required and demonstrate how you made a difference at each company, providing specific examples.Theyre looking for statements more like theseRecorded weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational referenceDeveloped three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performanceReorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department membersNeed help? Ask yourself these questionsHow did you perform the job better than others?What were the problems or challenges faced? How did you overcome them? What were the results? How did the company benefit from your performance?Did you receive any awards, special recognitions, or promotions as a result?5. Going on too long or cutting things too shortMany people try to squeeze their experiences onto one page, because theyve heard resumes shouldnt be longer. By doing so, job seekers may delete impressive achievements. Other candidates ramble on about irrelevant or redundant experiences.Despite what you may read or hear, there are no real rules governingresume length. Why? Because human beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned, will be reading it.That doesnt mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two pages. But dont feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Conversely, dont cut the meat out of your resume simply to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.When writing your resume, ask yourself, Will this statement help me land an interview? Every word should sell you, so include only the infor mation that elicits a yes.6. Bad summaryMany candidates lose their readers right at the beginning, with their career summary. Employers do read this portion of your resume,but often they plow through vague pufferies like, Accomplished professional seeking career growth.Such statements are overused, too general, and waste valuable space.Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example An accomplished marketing manager that developed award-winning campaigns for Fortune 500 clients that contributed to 50% increase in stock value.7. No action verbsAvoid using phrases like responsible for. Instead, useaction verbs. Not only do these words help to show off your initiative, they also help punch up the overall tone of your resume. For exampleResolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff.Increased organic search visits 20% year over yearDeveloped a comprehensive onboarding program for new hires8. Leaving off important informationYou may be tempted, for example, to eliminate mention of the jobs youve taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the soft skills youve gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think.9. Visually too busyIf your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. So show your resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find itvisually attractive? If what you have is hard on the eyes, revise.10. Incorrect contact informationI once worked with a student whose resume seemed incredibly strong, but he wasnt getting any bites from employers. So one day, I jokingly asked him if the phone number hed listed on his resume was correct. It wasnt. Once he changed it, he started getting the calls hed been expecting. Moral of the story Double-check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details sooner rather than later.Safeguard your resume Do this nextThere are plenty of pitfalls to duck and dodge whenwriting a resume, but no matter how careful you are, theres always a chance youll overlook something that can sabotage your efforts. Want to avoid thosemistakes?Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts atMonsters Resume Writing Service. Youll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review ofyour resumes appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiters first impression. Consider it an insurance policy for your resume.