Common Resume Errors:
When it comes to common resume errors, most are deal breakers. The question I have is this: Since these resume errors are so common, why do so many people continue to make them?
Silly mistakes can make you look careless, incompetent, and uneducated, and can even cause you to appear fraudulent. Let’s discuss some common resume errors that can seriously cost you.
You Get the Basics Wrong
Your resume is the first ‘work product’ your future manager will see. Therefore, it makes sense that you are extra diligent in ensuring it is a high-quality document that accurately reflects your skills, experiences, and career goals. Creating a resume takes time because you are crafting your story. So don’t rush the process and be cognizant of the following areas.
64% of resumes have at least one spelling mistake.
Yesterday, I reviewed a Director’s resume and the first line in his employment section was 2019 – PRESANT.
Yep…
It is a silly resume mistake, but I guarantee he didn’t know he had made it. Why? Because this type of resume mistake is hard to avoid if you don’t realize that by default, Microsoft Word doesn’t spell check uppercase words.
It has been reported that 64% of resumes have at least one spelling mistake. And for those of you in this bucket, a Career Builder survey reported that 77% of hiring managers claim they will immediately reject a resume with misspelled words, typos, or poor grammar.
And now that you know there are limitations to spell-check features, you can take precautions. For example, don’t capitalize words unnecessarily. Meaning, if the company’s trademarked name is capitalized (like IBM), follow suit, but otherwise, use normal sentence case so Word’s spell checker can identify misspellings.
I also recommend that you plug your content into additional word-processing apps like Google Docs. Google’s spelling macro behaves differently than Word’s spell check, so your chances of catching errors are much better if your content has been in both tools. You can also use apps like Grammarly, Slick Write, or ProWritingAid. While every tool and app will have its strengths and weaknesses, using multiple will help you to minimize errors.
One more thing to consider: you can misspell a word without misspelling it. Examples include using manger in place of manager, or confusing insure for ensure and affect for effect. Always double-check your content for these types of anomalies.
Consider your formatting.
I truly believe that some folks consider the formatting of their resume before they worry about their content. Unless you are applying for graphic design jobs, steer clear of the snazzy tables, borders, colors, or graphics.
The goal of resume formatting is to make your resume easy to read. Not only will ‘fancy’ formatting distract from your content, but it can also keep your resume from being properly scanned by applicant tracking systems. Research shows that 75% of resumes are never read by humans. Almost all companies leverage applicant tracking systems and if your resume can’t be scanned for relevant keywords, a real person will never see it.
Don’t let the easy stuff disqualify you.
White space is important.
When a human does lay her eyes on your resume, make sure you have enough white space to make it readable. White space is simply the space you add between text lines or blocks of content. Without white space, the content of your resume will run together. But with white space, you guide the reader by providing a place for her to rest her eyes between topics or sections.
Adding white space is easy. It can be as simple as adding an extra carriage return between main sections and ensuring your line spacing is 1.15 instead of the default single space.
Avoid the use of paragraphs.
While there is a time and place for paragraphs within your resume, bulleted lists are more readable when you simply list tasks, responsibilities, and achievements. Make sure you limit the content for each bullet to a single topic or concept. Bullets also add to your resume’s overall white space and readability, which means that readers will find the bullets much easier to scan than paragraphs. Using a list format will also help your reader glean meaning from each concise bullet, thus identifying skills and experiences that best fit the hiring manager’s needs.
This doesn’t mean that you should never use paragraphs in your resume. If you want to expand on a project, provide a more detailed explanation of a task or position, or flesh out your journey, definitely use paragraph form. Just recognize that paragraphs tell a story, and bullets are used for lists.
One more point on bullets. Make sure you use the same size bullet throughout your resume. Also, make sure they are all in alignment with each other and slightly indented from the main text.
Fonts…more fonts…and the size of fonts.
When I see multiple fonts or multiple colors and sizes of text, I assume the candidate has copied/pasted from job descriptions or other people’s resumes.
Don’t do that.
I certainly understand why you may want to view job descriptions and other peoples’ resumes for ideas but be sure to write your resume in your own language. Your resume should be your story and when it seems like you are copying from someone else, I wonder if you actually have the skills you are listing. I also question your ability to think independently and critically.
Keeping the fonts consistent throughout the resume shows continuity. I recommend one font type and maybe two sizes max (a larger size for headers).
Ignore ‘Do-Gooders’ Offering Advice
“A recruiter suggested that I add Lead to my title. She said it would make me look more competitive.”
The recruiter was wrong. It made the candidate look fraudulent.
Your Resume Isn’t Supposed to Be a Fictional Document.
No matter what, don’t embellish or falsify information on your resume.
You are either a lead or you aren’t. You are a CRA or you aren’t. You worked at a particular company or you didn’t. Your employment start and end dates are specific dates…don’t take liberty with those dates by stretching them to hide employment gaps or positions that you don’t want to add to your resume.
When someone offers you advice, consider their motivation. Then consider whether taking the advice means you are falsifying information. Either way, never (seriously, never) blindly follow someone else’s advice.
Should you hire someone to write your resume?
When I decided it was time to leave IBM, I engaged an executive search firm that offered resume writing as part of their package. It was a disaster.
I wasn’t in the recruiting business at the time, but I could tell that the resume they crafted for me wasn’t going to properly represent me. While my resume was ‘pretty’, it was generic and bland. It didn’t tell my story. It also didn’t accurately reflect my work history as the writer had taken some liberties with my early positions.
There are two main points here: First, your resume should be tailored for every position, so purchasing a ‘one and done’ resume is a flawed approach. Second, the content of your resume should come from you. Your resume should reflect your journey and only you can craft that message.
I will offer one caveat: if you are hopeless when it comes to the proper use of bullets, formatting, grammar, and spelling, hire a professional to edit those aspects of your resume. But don’t give your power away by allowing a resume writer to wordsmith your content. Be the CEO of your career and tell your own story.
Be aware of resume myths.
You should know the difference between sound advice versus outdated resume formatting myths. While some myths may have made sense years ago, the job search continues to change. And that means your approach to writing a resume should also change or you will be guilty of committing additional common resume errors.
Only list years of employment.
While broadly practiced, I recommend you always list months and years on your resume. A lot of recruiters recommend only listing years to hide gaps and short tenures. For me, though, it makes me feel like you are hiding something. In essence, this practice causes more questions.
For example, stating that you worked at a company from 2021-2022 could mean that you only held the position for 2 days or 2 months versus 2 years. So instead of showing stronger tenure, it just caused another flag.
We have also seen a trend where candidates provided a list of employment without dates. Why would you do that? I don’t understand the concept and can honestly state that we will never represent a candidate who doesn’t list dates of employment.
Your resume should only be one page.
Maybe this made sense when resumes were faxed, mailed, or hand-delivered. But in today’s market, following an arbitrary page limit doesn’t make sense. The general rule of thumb is that your content should be relevant…regardless of the length.
I would also recommend that you not duplicate content. We often see senior-level CRAs list the exact same tasks under several employment sections. Don’t do that. There are other ways you can format your resume to show that you held the same role across multiple companies.
The Point of Your Resume
The point of your resume is to introduce yourself to potential hiring managers. Take your time when crafting your resume, ensuring you are diligent when creating this important document. Rushing to a final product can cause you to make common resume errors. And, some resume mistakes are deal breakers. At a minimum, they can make you look careless, incompetent, and uneducated. But more importantly, some can cause you to appear fraudulent.
Need advice? Feel free to reach out.