Free resume critique: 8 most common mistakes in the resume
Our free professional resume critique service will help you to find the most frequent flaws of your resume
Do you really know how to look for a job? Do you want to write a perfect resume? Check if you can find these 8 common mistakes in it.
Every week thousands of new resumes are sent to our website resume-review.org for free resume critique. They are all very different. Moreover, employers often find it difficult to choose the one candidate for an open job. In order to stand out among thousands of other applicants, carefully check your resume and see if there are any common mistakes in your document.
- Responsibilities and achievements
Let’s start with the “hot” point. Contacts, responsibilities, and achievements at the previous (current) place of work – this is what you are directly engaged in and what you achieved at work. There is no need to rewrite the list of job descriptions from the accountant’s or marketer’s manual. Reading this average information is not interesting for a recruiter. The same information can be found in the hundreds of resumes. Find your schtick!
The following examples are not considered to be “distinctive features”:
- Stress resistance
- Detail-oriented
- Financial statement analysis
- Well-organized
- Team leadership
- Analytical
- Reporting proficiency
- Communication skills
- Basic education
A recent survey of resume-review.org shows that the status of your educational institution is not really important for the majority of employers. When we asked the leading companies whether they pay attention to the status of the University they applicants graduated from, we have received the following results:
- Only 2,9 % consider it to be the defining factor;
- 50,7 % pay attention, but it is not the main criterion for selecting an employee;
- 46,4% does not pay attention to this detail at all.
But what matters is what kind of knowledge you obtained during your education, whether you can apply them in practice, whether you were able to finish the university with honor, since it is one of the important steps in your life. Therefore, do not just state the name of the University and the years of studying, but also write a few words about what you have learnt during the years of study.
By the way, it would be nice not to use abbreviations of the names of educational institutions and specialties. Since recruiters do not like decipher abbreviations.
- Additional education
If you are applying for the position of an accountant, but in the column about additional education, you put information about floristry courses or ballroom dancing, it only distracts the recruiter’s attention. Of course, you can describe yourself as a versatile person, but it is better to save this information for the interview. Of course, if you get an interview invitation and someone will ask you about a hobby.
- Professional Skills
And that’s when things start to get interesting. Perhaps you will be shocked or disappointed. However, the skills of working with MS Office, Internet Explorer, Opera, with a copier and a printer, a phone and a computer are not what recruiters expect from you.
It is 2017 and if you have not yet learned how to work with Word or make phone calls, it’s strange that you could even write your resume. It is ridiculous to describe the skills mentioned above for all employees who work at the office. Especially, if you are applying for a driver’ or electrician’s position. Just do not mention it.
So, what should you write about? Read this article and you will find all the necessary answers and useful tips: HOW TO CREATE A GOOD RESUME?
- Additional information and soft skills
Try not to give too many adverbs describing how communicative, stress-resistant, and an easily trained person you are. Just keep to the point.
- No credentials
This is not a fatal error, but an obvious flaw on your part. If you already have work experience, why not to use it? Do not hesitate to ask for credentials from former employers. Specify the name and position of the person who can recommend you. In case, the recruiter wants to know more about you.
- Formatting
We have already discussed the resume content. Now let us move to the formatting. First of all, think whether it is easier to perceive the written information in a structured form or a straight text without paragraphs, indents, lists, and tables? Of course, it is more convenient for a recruiter to read a text divided into paragraphs.
Resume-review.org wishes you Good luck!