Most Common Resume Mistakes

If a recruiter sees one spelling or grammatical error on a resume it will be thrown into the trash.

Survey conducted last year of more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals. The study asked them to name the “most common and most outrageous real-life resume mistakes they see.”

Most common mistakes

• Resumes with typos
• Candidate has an inappropriate, non-professional-sounding email address
• Resumes with missing information—no dates of employment, no list of skills
• Resumes are too generic, not tailored for the position
• Resumes that copy/paste text from the job ad
• Resumes printed on decorative paper
• Resumes that are too long or too short
• 1 in 3 Employers reject you due to something they found online which is not mentioned in your resume

Most outrageous

• Resume was written entirely in the Star Trek language of Klingon
• Resume used text-speak — the letter “u” instead of the word “you”
• Under objective the candidate wrote “To work for someone who is not an alcoholic with three DUI’s like my current employer”
• Candidate neglected to include his/her name in the resume
• Resume included baby pictures of the candidate
• Resume included jail term served for assaulting former boss

While the above “outrageous resume examples” may sound amusing and unbelievable, having your resume rejected because of errors is certainly believable—and missing out on a potential job opportunity is no laughing matter.

The most common mistakes on a resume would be, believe it or not, the small details. Not so much what is on a resume, per say. For example, an extra space where it is not needed, a period after the month, abbreviation in one place and not another. Many employers look at the small details to make sure you actually put time and effort into a resume. If you say you pay attention to detail and then you have a three-letter month abbreviation in one place and a four-letter month abbreviation in another, the employer will wonder how you did not catch the discrepancy.

The latest trends in resume writing would have to be design. If you are a job seeker looking to have your resume stand out amongst the rest, your resume should not be a plain bold name here, or bold title there. Rather, consider using a template that you can purchase online or contacting your alma mater and asking for some templates. Making your resume stand out from the pack is always beneficial.

Now, there are wrong ways and right ways to “stand out”. Highlight your skills, minimize gaps in employment and wow them with your summary of qualifications. Remember to ask for a critique of your resume. You very well may miss a detail or a critical spelling error.