Resume is one of the most important documents for job searching. This is a chance to leave a good impression on potential employers and convince them that you are the best candidate for the job. However, even the best resumes can make mistakes. Let’s take a look at these common resume mistakes to avoid.
9 Resume Mistakes To Avoid
1. Don’t Put Informal Email Address
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First thing first, avoid using informal email address for work related. It is not appropriate to use unprofessional email’s name such as ‘[email protected]’ or maybe ‘[email protected]’.
Instead, create a free email address using Gmail or Yahoo with a real and professional name. If possible, use the same name that appears in your LinkedIn profile or resume.
2. Using A Lot Of Fonts In Resume
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Avoid from using a lot of fonts in resume. Just imagine if the resume contains more than 5 different fonts, it will surely gives the hiring manager or recruiter a headache while going through the resume. Stick with just 2 fonts in resume to make it less crowded.
One is more than enough but if you decided to use 2 fonts, make sure it complements each other. You can use one font for the headings and another one font for the body text. This way will make the resume look readable and neat.
3. Don’t Put Unnecessary Personal Information
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Too much of unnecessary information in resume will make the resume crowded and boring. Here are some personal information that is not useful in a resume:
- Hobbies
- Sexual orientation
- Social security number
- Date and place of birth
You may highlight your hobbies or interests as long as it is related to the job descriptions.
4. Do Highlight About Achievements, Not Daily Task
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You need to sell yourself in the resume. Of course, you need to highlight all the achievements, not your regular daily tasks. Remember, this is a professional job hiring. Your resume has to show them that you are good at your job and you deserve the position.
Instead of just stating the normal tasks you do in your resume, put these kind of achievements:
- Contribute in reorganized 5 years departmental files and make it more accessible for the department teams
- Developed 5 weekly activities for preschool students in their 30 minutes holiday program
- Recorded and compiled all the weekly meeting minutes in the file for future references
Show them what you have done and all the accomplishments that you bring to your previous company. Explain it in a professional way instead of just listing it down.
5. Too Much Typing & Grammatical Errors
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This is the most common resume mistakes that people always do. Too many typos and grammatical errors in your resume is not a good start. We understand that you might be using the same resume to apply for a few companies but you need to make sure to change the structure and some words since it may not be the same position for each company.
Ask your friends to double-check your resume or use some online tools to check the spelling and grammar in your resume. Reading your own resume out loud can be one of the ways to find the typos in your resume.
6. Crowded Designs & Colours For Resume
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One of the important things in your resume is to keep it simple and clean. Using crowded designs or colourful backgrounds is not going to help you secure a job interview. Crowded designs and colours will make your recruiter feel annoyed to find the specific qualities that they are searching in you.
Try to maintain the main colours in your resume by using muted colours such as white, blue, black, or grey colour. It will make your resume looks neat and more professional. Remember, less is more everyone!
7. Avoid Writing Too Long Or Too Short In Resume
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The next thing to avoid is writing too long or too short in your resume. Yes, resume should not be more than one page but it doesn’t mean that you have to squeeze all the things in one page.
When you are writing too much, you will make the recruiters have difficult time to read and most likely, your resume will be putting aside. If you were writing too short, recruiters will not know some of your important achievements.
Write your resume with this mindset, “If this sentence will help you to secure the job, then it is relevant to be put inside your resume”.
8. Putting Too Much Information In Resume
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If you are already have more than 2 years work experience, it is time for you to remove all the references that you had since high school from your resume. There is no need to put your high school achievements inside your resume.
Achievements from your college also would be less relevant if you have strong based from your last company. Just highlighted the most recent and the biggest achievements that you think is the most valuable for you to secure the job. Don’t know how to do resume? Here are 8 free online resume builder to help you write your resume.
9. Stop Using Passive Language
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Stop using passive language in your resume. Use this chance to make a good impression on a hiring manager using active words as it can show them that you deserve the position.
Resume need to stay relevant and up to date to match with the job that you are applying. These are a few resume mistakes to avoid whether you are the new job seeker or a professional worker. May you get to secure your dream job soon!
