Your resume is your first point of contact with the organization that you apply to. Writing a resume that explains your background, achievements, work, and other experiences and your future aspirations can be tricky when you are applying for a new position in an organization. You want to ensure that you have added all the necessary information within the 1-2 pages (if you are a fresh graduate) that makes you stand out and lands you the interview. You want to make sure that your resume is perfect and be wary of any mistakes. After all, you must show the organization that you are the perfect candidate for the job by catching the hiring manager’s eye. Hence, you must avoid any common mistake that can reduce your chances of getting an ideal job position.
Also Read: What Employers Read in Your Resume and How To Make It Stand Out
Making your resume unnecessarily long
One example of a bad resume is that it is excessively long. This makes it difficult for the hiring manager to focus on the previous accomplishments that help you stand out from the pool of applicants. You should keep it in mind that, a hiring manager takes a maximum of 7 seconds to scan your resume. Which means if your resume is too long because of unnecessary information they manager might miss out or skip the usable information in your resume. Hence you must make your resume short and to-the-point. By keeping your resume short and concise you will be able to grab the attention of the hiring manager.
You should also keep in mind that the manager has to go through hundreds of resumes t find the perfect candidate and there might be times when their energy starts to wane and if your resume is too long they might not give it their complete attention and it might end up in the bin. Ideally, if you are a fresh graduate or someone who is looking for a career change, you should keep a one-page resume.
Also Read: Types of Resume and Which Type Is Best For You
A Disorganized or Messy Resume
A disorganized resume is the biggest turn off for a hiring manager. This is one of the most common mistakes that job seekers make on their resume. Having a crammed up resume, that is not properly formatted and lack structure shows your lack of effort. And this hiring manager might think that you are not passionate about the job.
By having an organized and clean resume with a clear and attractive design, you are giving off a positive vibe and telling the hiring company that you are serious about the job. If you are a recent graduate and do not have a lot of experience with designing a resume. The best thing to do is to search for a resume template online. You will find tons of free resume templates. If you do not have the expertise to design a resume from scratch.
Also Read: Why Should You Connect With Potential Employers on LinkedIn
Not Customizing Your Resume
You may apply for more than one job at a time. Every job has its own set of requirements and it is critical to keep in mind that even if the job position is the same, the companies may differ. And hence, sending a generic, standardized resume to all the companies that you apply to is a bad idea. This mistake is very common in people who are new to the job market, like fresh graduates. They are applying for multiple positions and using the same resume for every position.
Customizing your resume can give you a competitive edge. And it can be an instant differentiator in the eyes of the recruiters. By customizing your resume you are connecting your expertise and experience with the job requirements. This tells the recruiter that you have the perfect skills that they need in an applicant for that particular job position.
Focusing on your Job Duties and Not the End Result
The recruiters are not only interested in the several tasks that you performed in your previous job but also in the results of those tasks. What did you accomplish? How were you able to create a positive change through the tasks you performed? For example, you might have increased sales by a certain percentage of the strategy you designed and increased employee retention by 10 percent.
The bottom line is to keep the job role in your mind and then add the job responsibilities. And the accomplishments that match that particular job position you are interested in.
Career Advice:How To Find The Job Of Your Dreams – 5 Tips That Actually Work
Unnecessary buzzwords and grammatical/spelling mistakes
You might have heard that adding buzzwords from the job posting into your resume can make you stand out in the eyes of the recruiter. This is true. However, it is equally important that you do not go too overboard with that. Adding any buzzwords to your resume just to fill it up can be a big turn off to recruiters. Choosing the right keywords and incorporating it in a way that they sit well in your resume and sound natural is the way to go. Your resume needs to be original and should make sense. Otherwise, it could be annoying to the hiring manager.
Similarly, grammatical and spelling mistakes are the most common resume mistakes. That can make the recruiter throw your resume in the rejection pile. On one hand, you have described yourself as someone who has “an eye for details.” And on the other hand, you make a silly spelling or grammatical error or couldn’t differentiate between “their” and “there,” you are not making a strong case for yourself. Hence, it is important to double-check your resume and proofread it multiple times before emailing it.
Now that you know some of the common resume mistakes. It’s time to go through your resume and check for any errors before you apply for that dream job.
You can use MetroYak platform to advertise and promote your voice in a highly targeted, personalized way using Promoted Content.
Share your requirements at: hello@metroyak.com
