— I can’t tell you how many times over the course of my professional career I have come across résumés with typographical errors. This is perhaps the single most mistake that will surely prevent you from getting the interview. There are others, which I will also cover, but the typo – definitely the most egregious. Typos are a red flag indicating lack of detail, and even worse – an inability to carefully proofread.
— Another common résumé error is presenting information as if you are speaking to a friend on the phone. For example, “I increased revenues for the company by 50%.” This is a business document folks and not the place for proper pronouns. Try “Successfully increased revenues by 50% by developing a new paper product.” Here at least you have the increase (without the pronoun) and a bit about how you did it.
— Avoid referencing hobbies and interests. An employer will find out about you in due course. I saw one résumé that listed hobbies as: Baseball! Baseball! Baseball! Umm, I get the point. Thanks for sharing your love of the game with me. Where will I find you on your lunch hour? Will it be taking care of a last minute request or glued to the tube at ESPN Zone over beer and cheese fries?
— An inappropriate email address is something that bears referencing. For example: IlovekumkuatsATaol.com is not an appropriate address for a professional document. Glad to know that is a fruit of choice, but not great when you are trying to put your best foot forward to gain an interview in what is increasingly becoming a tighter and tighter job market.
— Formatting is another area where you should be careful. Make sure that spacing, alignment, tabs, bold, italics, and underline – you get the point, are consistent. If you simply slap the résumé together with no attention to these things your résumé will look like a messy room where you cannot see the floor. This will certainly earn you a position – in the circular file.
Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of ResumesDoneWrite, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.
Debra can be reached at –
http://resumesdonewrite.com/
[email protected]
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