The hardest part of a job search is getting a human being to look at your resume. That's why it's so important for your resume to be perfect before you send it out or upload it to any website.
Unfortunately, resume screeners are looking for reasons to eliminate candidates from the recruiting pipeline. They are not looking for reasons to keep people in the process, but looking for excuses to drop them out!
Here are five resume mistakes that will get you a rejection letter or no response at all from an employer. Double-check your resume right now to make sure none of these mistakes appears on it!
Five Resume Mistakes That Will Get You A Rejection Letter
1. Typos and misspellings
2. Errors in dates of employment
3. Missing employment history information (employer names, job titles, etc.)
4. No clear link between the job you're pursuing and your work history
5. Missing contact details
Every resume-writing book and article highlights the importance of proper spelling and punctuation in a resume, but plenty of job-seekers still send out resumes with errors in them.
If you are not an experienced editor, that's okay — in that case, ask a friend to edit your resume for you!
Make sure your dates of employment are correct. You don't need to include the month you started and finished each job -- just the years will do. Make sure those years are accurate!
I received a resume last night that told me a certain job-seeker had started a past job in 1987 and left the job in 1943. That's either a typo or a case of time travel.
One of the most important elements in your resume is the information about where you worked and what you did in each job.
Make sure each of your past employers' company names is spelled correctly. For the company location, use the location where you worked -- not your employer's headquarters in another city or part of the world.
Here's an example:
Acme Explosives, Phoenix, Arizona
Product Manager
2007 - 2010
Acme is a $10M family-owned stick dynamite manufacturer. I was hired to launch the company's first Product Management function. My team and I developed four successful products for Acme and helped the company grow revenues by $2M/year.
Here's another example:
Angry Chocolates, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Administrative Assistant
2012 - Present
Angry Chocolates is a specialty chocolate maker with distribution across the U.S. and abroad. I joined Angry to support its Client Service Manager with her calendar, travel, project management, client communication and team meetings.
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It has to be clear immediately to anyone who reads your resume how your background aligns with whatever job you are applying for. You cannot make your resume's reader guess why you are qualified for the job you want. Your resume's task is to bring your qualifications across.
That's why it is important to customize your resume every time you use it.
Your contact information goes at the top of your resume, just beneath your name. Be sure to include your LinkedIn profile URL along with your city and state (you don't need to include your house number or street), your phone number (just one) and your email address.
You are an amazing person who deserves a tremendous job — make sure your resume is supporting that goal rather than impeding it!
