Before you can wow a prospective employer with your stellar skills, you have to make a good first impression. And that starts with your resume.
Hiring managers are looking for good-fit candidates who have the right qualifications, align with company culture, and will deliver on expectations.
They’re also looking for red flags–little clues that this candidate can’t deliver or isn’t what they seem. For hiring teams, the worst nightmare is making the wrong hire and investing time and money in someone who causes problems.
What does this mean for you as a job seeker? It means your resume needs to show your qualifications and accomplishments. And it needs to NOT throw up unnecessary red flags.
The last thing you want is to be remembered as the person who misspelled implementation on your resume.
Here are 3 common mistakes that make you look like the WRONG person for the job.
1. Use Of Informal Wording
Despite the prevalence of informal language in our everyday speech – and even correspondence (I’m looking at you, text-speak) – a resume is a formal document and should present as such. Watch for overly informal terminology and slang.
2. Typographical errors
Misspelled words are a big turn-off for recruiters. Common culprits include: Experienced, successful, counseled, professional, responsible, behavior, judgment, focused, achieved, and independent.
Be sure to use a spellcheck app before sending your resume. We prefer Grammarly.
But the best spellchecker won’t catch everything. Watch for word swaps like using manger instead of manager or pubic speaking instead of public speaking. Check for incorrect word forms like “Leadership project…” instead of “Led project…”
3. Factual Errors
Once you looked at your resume a dozen times, it’s easy to go resume-blind and make even glaring errors. We’ve even seen people misspell their own names!
Double-check that your email address and phone number are correct. Scan employment dates and make sure there aren’t any typos or errors.
Mistakes like these might seem minor, but when it comes to your resume, they can be seen as a reflection of your attention to detail, or worse, your level of skill or intelligence. Give your resume a thorough proofread each time you send it out.
If writing, grammar, and proofreading just aren’t your strong suit, come to the pros at Upword Resume. We know what an effective resume needs, and what it DOESN’T need.
