Common résumé mistakes

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Many people wonder why they don’t receive callbacks on their résumé. Applicants will say, ‘I’ve sent out hundreds of résumés, but nobody will call me!’

This lack of response is usually because the applicant’s résumé contained many of the common errors listed below:

Spelling errors: Résumés that have spelling errors indicate a lazy potential employee and someone who obviously doesn’t care about first impressions. One of my favorite examples is this one: an applicant listed one of their qualifications as ‘excellent attention to detale.’ Yes, they spelled it ‘detale.’

Huge font: Do not enlarge your font size to make up for lack of work history. A résumé with 24-point font looks ridiculous. Use this as an opportunity to detail your work objective and list additional positive, professional qualities you possess.

Listing personal details: I have received résumés with a picture of the applicant, height, weight, race, number of children, marital status, Myspace page (that was interesting), etc. Do not list anything personal. You are giving the employer a chance to judge you before they even meet you. It also indicates that you are not professional, or that you probably haven’t had a job in a while.

Wrong information/no contact number/inappropriate email address: I have seen many résumés with no contact number, an incorrect phone number or an inactive email address. Double check your résumé and make sure everything is current. If you do not have a professional email address, please create a new one. No employer likes to see a résumé from [email protected].

Work history too lengthy: Nothing shows your age like putting 35 years of work history on a résumé. Employers are not allowed to discriminate based on age, but that doesn’t mean they follow the law. Applicants who list only the last 15 years of work history won’t give employers a reason to discard a résumé based on age.

No explanation of accomplishments: Many times an applicant will list ‘increased sales by 27 percent’ but won’t list how they accomplished it. Applicants should always detail how they fixed a problem, increased sales, etc. Example: ‘Increased sales by 27 percent by scouting and marketing to previously unsolicited territory, surveying current customers on ways to improve service and cementing current relationships.’

Objective listed is for another field of work: I placed an ad for an accounts payable position, but many of the people who sent in résumés had other job fields listed in their objective such as seeking IT position, customer service, construction, etc. Please make sure your objective matches the job you are applying for. I have discarded many a résumé because I assume the applicant will leave as soon as something comes up in their desired field of employment..

Jennifer Kacprowicz has her PHR (Professional in Human Resources certificate) and has nine years experience in this field. She is the owner of Secondhand Pages Bookstore.

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