8 Cringe-worthy Mistakes to Avoid in Your Resume (Guest Post)

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Hiring managers receive hundreds or even thousands of resumes every single day. They don’t have the time to thoroughly browse through each and single one of them. So, they only spend about 6 seconds to skim each one.

You may be the perfect applicant, but if your resume doesn’t show it, then you’ll still end up in the pool of rejected applicants. Just one tiny glitch they find in your resume, and they’ll automatically discount you from the shortlist set, whether it is a typo, poor format, or wrong font.

But no matter what it was that went wrong with your resume, it will always boil down to one thing: your resume needs work. Knowing which mistakes made you land in the “no” pile is a good start to enhancing your resume.

1. Selfish objectives

It’s important to understand your own objective if you want to excel in your career, but it’s not something you’d want to tell your employer. We all want to succeed right? But when you want to start out at a new job, then the smartest move would be to show the employer that hiring you will benefit him greatly.

Before formulating your objective, take note: it’s all about the employer. The objective section of your resume should focus on telling him how hiring you will be of any benefit to him.

2. Being broad and general

The purpose of the resume is to tell the employer that this certain person is capable doing the job. That being said, writing a general resume is just like submitting a blank piece of paper. Unless you’re resume helps the hiring crew to analyze whether or not you’ll be a good fit for the company, then it’s completely useless.

Before beginning to write your resume, tell yourself that your task as an applicant is to help the hiring managers narrow their focus. Be specific with your resume so that you’ll be able to send a clear message to the managers.

3. Being generic

Information became the cheapest commodity ever since the internet was invented. Nowadays, people just copy and paste everything they see in their monitors without giving it another thought. We’ve already forgotten how to use our own intellect in crafting our stuff, even resumes.

You may not be copy and pasting your resumes straight from the internet, but you’re not being original either. Instead of writing your resume your way, you simply type “adjectives to use in your resume” in Google, and then voila, you now have a set of clever words to choose from.

Using the same words that everybody chooses is a definite no when it comes to resume writing since it won’t separate you from your competitors. You have to be unique if you want to stand out. Use your resume as an avenue to show the employer how you are valuable as an employee.

Related reading: 5 Common Cover Letter Mistakes to Avoid- Infographic

4. Too much detail

You’re still just a random applicant. The employer doesn’t care about the specifics of your job description in your previous or current company. What he wants to know is how efficient you are in your work. He wants to know if you’re someone he relies on if ever he decides to hire you. Place your focus on the accomplishments and achievements you’ve made, showing him that you are what you say you are. Placing too many job details will only confuse the employer and will put you in a questionable light.

5. Making it about you

Your resume isn’t a place for you to write about your epic biography. It’s about how your target company is going to benefit from hiring you. Career goals that don’t have anything to do with your target position shouldn’t be included. Apply that same principle to your entire resume. Anything that irrelevant to your target position shouldn’t be included in the resume.

6. Using a resume template

I’ve already said in the beginning of this article that hiring managers are faced with tons of resumes each day. That being said, if you send in a resume that is quite the same as everybody else’s, then you won’t make it farther than the “no” pile. With the many applicants also applying for the same position as you, your main goal should be to stand out. Copying another person’s resume template won’t get you anywhere.

Related reading: 11 Common Resume Mistakes by College Students and How to Fix Them

7. References

If they want your references, they’ll ask for it. The first thing hiring managers want to know is if you can handle the job. If yes, then perhaps that’s the time that they’ll be looking for references – when they want to know more about you.

Hiring managers who receive tons of resumes per day don’t have the time to check all the references of all the applicants. They’ll only be interested in your references when you’re already in the shortlist.

8. Ignoring typological errors

At this point, hiring managers are already checking you for professionalism. No company wants to hire someone who is immature. Immaturity will always be a sign of lack of potential. If you want to be on their good side, then it’s a good thing to note that all your typos just have to go.

Having a perfectly crafted resume won’t matter if you miss one word, or if you have a few jumbled letters. It will still make your credibility stumble.

So, what am I trying to say in all of this? Hiring managers only care about one thing: who to hire? They’ll only shortlist people who they think have potential. And they won’t be thoroughly studying each resume to see which ones are the best. They won’t fawn over you for your exemplary grammar and vocabulary. They’ll only be giving each resume about a few seconds before they decide whether it falls into the shortlist or the “no” pile. You, being the aspiring applicant, should make it easy for the hiring managers that you are indeed a perfect match for the position and the company. How do you do that? You do it by highlighting all the skills and achievements that will point to you as a potential employee.

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About Monica Morgan

Monica Morgan is a free-spirited woman having vast experience in article writing. She loves to travel Asian countries, writing reviews on each of them on her Hqessays.com. She prefers using diverse writing styles to properly engage with a wide array of readers.