5 Mistakes to Avoid On Your Resume

The joys of job-seeking sometimes come at a price. Your time, energy, and mood can all be affected when you’re looking for a new job.

Do yourself a favor and avoid these five common mistakes:

1. Misspelling / Typos - This is more common than you might think. Don’t let your time go to waste and have your resume skipped over because of a simple misspelling. This is especially painful when there is an issue with your contact information. Don’t miss the opportunity because you’ve missed a letter is missing from your email. Because we pour so much of our time into our resumes, its easy to overlook little things. Have a fresh pair of eyes go over to it one last time before submitting it to your potential employer.

2. Underselling yourself - No matter where you’ve worked previously, you have absolutely made an impact. Let it be known! Listing your tasks and responsibilities can only go so far. Employers want to know how you will better their company. There’s no shame in sharing how awesome you are.

3. Two Pages are Too Much - Everyone wants to stand out on their resume, but not for the wrong reasons. Having more than one page can be a deal-breaker. Be sure to keep it concise, and to keep it clean. Big companies receive about 55k to 75k resumes per week. Those numbers are staggering which is why more and more of them are beginning to implement Applicant Tracking Systems to filter their potential new hires. Anything with two pages will more than likely be omitted. Should yours somehow pass to the next phase and make it into the hands of the hiring manager, do them a favor and keep their reading light and informative.

4. Not Tailoring Your Resume - Going the extra mile and modifying your resume to fit each application is a must. It shows the employer your enthusiasm for the role and how detail-oriented you are. This was once a very time-consuming endeavor, but Jobalytics will help you cut that time in half! After downloading the Jobalytics plugin in the chrome store, upload your resume to it. After successfully completing a scan, you will be given a percentage of how you match up with the job. If you’re unhappy with the score, change things up and try again. Once you’re a match, feel free to upload your new tailored resume!

5. Including Irrelevant Graphics or Images - Be discerning when it comes to selecting a resume template that does not include ornate or over the top graphic accents. Applicant Tracking Systems don’t like this and could potentially lead to omitting your resume. Also, air on the side of caution when it comes to uploading a headshot of yourself.