Top Resume Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

If you have ever tried to write a resume, for yourself or for someone you know, you are already familiar with the fact that this is not an easy task to take on. So much information goes into a resume; from your career objective to the list of your qualifications, your resume should be personal, convey confidence and set your best foot forward in order to impress a potential employer.

The following are the most commonly made mistakes - be sure to avioid them:

Stretching the truth.

Whether you are simply inflating past accomplishments or coming up with complete fabrications, lying is simply a bad idea. Aside from any moral or ethical implications, chances are that you'll eventually get caught and lose all credibility. So even if you get past the interview, your resume may become part of your employee file if you are hired, and inaccurate information could come back to haunt you.

Typos and Errors.

Never present a resume with errors! Proofread, proofread and then proofread again. Your résumé is your one chance to make a first impression. A typo or misspelled word can lead an employer to believe that you would not be a careful, detail-oriented employee. Spell-check software is not enough, since sentences like “Thank you for your patients” would get the thumbs up. Ask several people to proofread your resume to be sure that it is free of typos and grammatical errors. You want to put your best foot forward. Do your best to present the most polished resume to your potential employers.

Salary Information.

Never include salary information on your resume. If you are responding to an advertisement that asks for your salary history (what you have earned in the past) and /or your salary requirements, and you choose to provide that information, put it in your cover letter instead. However, surveys have shown that if an employer is interested in you, you will be contacted, regardless of whether or not you have included the requested salary information.

Including references to personal web sites.

You may wonder why referencing a personal web site may be a mistake. What if you have a sample of your graphic design work on your site that you want your potential employer to see? It sounds like a great idea, if the site you are referencing only has work-related information available. Many people make a mistake of including their personal web sites that may contain information potential employers may find irrelevant (and now you are wasting their time) or inappropriate.

As a rule, do not include your personal web site if it contains your photo or other photos that may be viewed as inappropriate, if it contains jokes (even if they are clean jokes), or your blog. In other words, if the site you have is entirely for personal purposes, you are best leaving it off your resume.

Include a link to your web site if the pages are set up to showcase your professional portfolio, a copy of your resume, reference letters, presentations, photos taken for professional use, or your web development skills.

Using very small fonts in order to get everything to fit on one page.

Never submit a resume that is difficult to read. Do not use a small font in order to fit everything into your resume. If you do, noone will want to read it! Be sure to use a font and type size that are easy to read, and select a format and design that are attractive and leave lots of white space to enhance readability.

One of the most common challenges is creating a resume that formats well on a single page. As a rule, a resume should not exceed two pages. It has become commonplace for professionals to change jobs frequently, and listing all the experiences, in addition to your career objective, education, qualifications and references, can certainly take up a lot of space. Keep in mind the font type you are using – stick to the basics, Arial and Times New Roman are best. Instead of changing the font size, review and revise your resume to make your statements more concise.

Incorrect company/school listings.

Refer to the past employers and/or the school(s) that you attended by their full names. Do not use variations of company and school names. Do not use abbreviations unless they are in fact part of the name. If you have attended New York University, list the complete name, not just NYU (even though it’s commonly known and your employer will likely recognize it). You don’t want to appear sloppy or as if you don’t pay attention to details.

Lengthy paragraphs describing your experiences.

To list the responsibilities you’ve had in your past professional experience, you are best off using bullet points that begin with action verbs, such as managed, developed, etc. You do not need to use full sentences, and you certainly do not need to use the paragraph format. This makes the information in your resume overwhelming and difficult to review quickly. Make your statements brief and clear; don’t add words to fill in space.

Vague or unclear objective.

Make sure your career objective is specific – for example, Position as a Network Engineer” – and not simply a vague statement such as “seeking a position offering training and advancement opportunities. Read also How to write an effective career objective on your resume or CV.

Career Objective: How to write an effective and original objective statement

What is a career objective?

A career objective, often listed as "objective", is quite simply a statement of your career goals. It sounds easy – you want to land a good job, utilize your experience and education, and get paid well. However, it's really not that easy. In fact, this is probably the most difficult part of the resume to compose, as you are limited to one to two sentences in which you are expected to convey your professional expertise, expectations from a job and an organization, as well as goals for your professional growth.

Common mistakes when writing a career objective

A common mistake that many people make is not listing an objective at all. They make the assumption that the objective is not necessary to include in a resume because it states the obvious – your objective is to get the job you are applying for. However, this is a big misconception. Employers are looking for an objective; they want to know what it is that you are looking for in order to determine whether or not you are a good match for their company.

The second mistake is including a career objective that doesn’t actually express your goals and your qualification. For example, a generic statement like the one below is commonly used is resumes:

“To obtain a position where my experience and education can be utilized and expanded.”

If you examine this statement, you will find it doesn’t say anything specific about what you are looking for in terms of professional growth. Avoid using weak statements like this. They will hurt you more than help you in your job search, because your employer will be left with an impression that you don’t have a set a goal in mind.

Four Tips how to create a winning career objective

Now that you know what you should NOT do, here are some helpful tips on creating a winning career objective that will get your resume noticed.

1. Make your career objective personal. Think of your whole resume as a sales tool; your career objective is your opening statement. You want your employer to know what you want, not just restate what other people want.

2. State your commitment to your career goal. If you are unsure of what you want, how is your employer to believe that you really want the job at their organization and you are not just applying because you want to get out of your current work environment? Don’t be afraid to state what you want from a job and from an organization.

3. Show that you are willing to take action to achieve your goal. Indicate what direction or action you are willing to take in order to accomplish your career objective.

4. Be specific about what you are looking for in a work situation. While you can say that you are looking for a “challenging” position, this doesn’t mean anything to your employer, as people define challenges in various ways. Avoid using generic and broad terms. Simply state what you want, and what you are willing to do to get it.

Keeping in mind these criteria, let’s rewrite the above career objective statement so that it effectively states what you want.

“To obtain a position of a sales representative in a computer industry, where I can utilize my management and customer relations skills, with the opportunity for performance-based advancement.”

This objective statement tells your potential employer that you know what you want, what experience you have in order to get the position, and what you are willing do to become a successful professional with the company.

Thus, you have just created a winning career objective for your resume.

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Read more tips on How to write a CV, Resume and Cover Letter main page.

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