I’ve Written Over 500 Resumes and These Are The Top 5 Resume Mistakes People Make
As a Professional Resume Writer who has revamped, optimized, and crafted more than 500 resumes for job seekers across the world, I’ve seen it all. From terrible templates, grammatical errors galore, missing contact information (super cringe), and WTF?! formats and layouts.
“Just a heads up, it’s really bad,” most of my clients warn me when I instruct them to send me their current resume to get started. Little do they know, I’ve reached the point where there are honestly (like, seriously) no surprises left.
Although people of all professions and career levels are not immune to making mistakes when writing their resumes, there are some mistakes that are more common than others. Out of all of the resumes I’ve written, these are the top 5 mistakes I see the most.
1. Not Tailoring Or Targeting Their Resume
Using a general resume for your targeted job search is never a good idea. If you don’t know what a general resume is, here’s a simple explanation: it’s a document that lists all the jobs you’ve ever had, lists all the skills you’ve ever learned or acquired, and lacks customization, focus, and purpose. This is a major no-no.
Your resume should always contain the most valuable information relevant to the roles you will be applying to. You can target your resume in a few ways including by industry, job title/function, or skillset.
When targeting your resume, make sure to only list information that’s applicable and showcases your demonstrated history of successfully performing the duties listed.
2. Having An Outdated Objective Statement Vs. A Compelling Qualifications Summary That Communicates Your Expertise
Back in the day, an objective statement was the “opening act” to a resume. It was about 2-3 sentences and briefly discussed what position(s) you were seeking and how you desperately wanted to work for a company you could advance within.
These days, employers could care less about what YOUR objective is.
They care about what you can do for THEM. They want to know what you can bring to the table.
Can you lead a team?
Can you optimize performance?
Can you slash budgets?
Can you communicate effectively?
Basically, why should they hire you? Why should you be considered? Do you have what they are looking for?
Begin your resume with 3-5 sentences or 3-5 bullet points that explain your qualifications, experience, and effectiveness in doing what they need to be done. Case in point: explain why they need to call you.
If you’re unsure of what your qualifications summary should consist of, take a look at the minimum qualifications or job requirements sections to get you started.
In this video, I explain how to communicate your value on your resume.
3. Listing Tasks Instead Of Results, Successes, or Impact
Writing your job descriptions and duties in the past used to include a bunch of bullet points that listed what you were responsible for and the tasks you completed each day. In today’s day in age, that doesn’t cut it anymore.
Recruiters and hiring managers care less about simple and mundane information and care more about the results, measurable impact, and successes you have a corroborated history of yielding.
What have you introduced, optimized, or improved?
What have you reduced, saved, cut, or decreased?
Focus on listing major wins, impactful projects, or anything you’ve spearheaded or been a part of that has made a great impact. I like the call the experience section the “meat and potatoes” section.
Your summary, education, and competencies serve as the appetizer. Those sections should entice recruiters and hiring managers to want to see what you can do and what you’ve done.
Your experience section should seal their interest and spark a phone call or email for an interview.
4. Not Listing Quantifiable Data That Showcases Value and Measured Success
This mistake is to piggyback off of mistake number three. It’s simply not enough to simply state that you’ve increased, improved, or decreased something, or received phone calls, or managed employees.
You need a number or figure that justifies that claim or measures volume. So often I see people who say they’ve had an impact or list what they do, but there’s no number to back it up.
How many calls do you receive each day from customers?
How many employees do you manage?
How many emails do you send?
How many files do you oversee?
By how much did you improve performance?
How much money did you save the company?
Incorporate numbers that add verification or clarification to your statements. This could also set you apart from other candidates who may not have this information or whose numbers/data aren’t as impressive as yours.
5. Not Having A Resume At All
Whew! This one takes the cake. I cannot count how many times I’ve had people come to me needing their resume done quick, fast, and in a hurry for an open opportunity but they don’t even HAVE a resume. Not only is this super unprofessional, but it’s also inconvenient.
This more than likely means that you’ll be filling out each and every application for every job you apply to manually. In addition to this, you’ll be wasting loads of time and you’ll be ill-prepared for any opportunity at all.
Listen: when opportunity knocks, it’s only for a moment. If your dream were to open up and you were guaranteed to be hired if you sent over your resume right then and there, would you get the job?
Always, always, always have a current and updated resume saved somewhere just in case something happens, good or bad.
GET YOUR RESUME REVIEWED BEFORE YOU START APPLYING
Making one or several of the mistakes included in this list can result in your resume being rejected by ATS systems, recruiters, and hiring managers, and cause you to lose out on interviews for jobs you’re actually qualified for.
A best practice is to reach out to a resume writer for a critique or review before you begin applying to ensure that your resume is up to par. This way if there are any problems or red flags with your resume, you have a chance to fix them before it’s too late.
Be sure to update your resume as you evolve or progress in your career to keep it current. By doing this, you’ll always be prepared to apply to new opportunities as they become available.