Resume Do's and Don'ts
Top 20 complaints about resumes made by Hiring Managers and Recruiters
- Spelling Errors, Typos, and Poor Grammar (use spell check and have someone else read your resume when you are finished)
- Too Duty Oriented - A resume that reads like a job description and fails to explain what the job seeker's accomplishments were and how they reached them (the hiring authority knows the job description and is mostly interested in what you will accomplish in the role)
- Dates not included or inaccurate dates - including listing only the year
- Contact Info - none or inaccurate contact info, unprofessional email addresses (remember that your resume is a snapshot of your professionalism and attention to detail)
- Poor formatting - boxes, templates, tables, use of headers and footers, etc (keep it simple and easy to read)
- Functional Resumes as opposed to writing a Chronological Resume (hiring managers want to see your career progression)
- Long Resumes - too long (one page is nice if possible, reality may dictate more)
- Paragraphs - Long Paragraphs instead of Bullet-Points (you can explain it during the interview)
- Unqualified Candidates - Candidates who apply to positions for which they are not qualified (wastes time and may get you blocked from future consideration as well. Take the time to read the job posting or advertisement)
- Personal information included that is not relevant to the job
- Employer information not included and/or not telling what industry or product candidate worked in
- Lying, misleading (especially in terms of education, dates, and inflated titles). The information you provide is going to be verified during the hiring process
- Poorly worded Career Objectives or meaningless introductions
- Font Choice - poor font choice or style (10 pitch Arial or Times New Roman recommended)
- Resumes sent as PDF, ZIP files, faxed, web page resumes or mailed - not following the directions for sending the resume as requested in the posting. Many people will not open ZIP files due to virus concerns.
- Pictures, Graphics, or URL links (provide them during the interview)
- No easy to follow summary (use the space normally taken for the objective)
- 1st or 3rd Person - Resumes written in the 1st or 3rd person format
- Gaps in employment - Makes them wonder why
- Burying important information in the resume - The harder it is to find, the less likely people will look for it