You’ve all been there: Writing one resume after another. Deleting, rewriting, deleting, and rewriting until you become so overwhelmed that you decide to send what you have in the hope that an employer bites.
You try that plan and it doesn’t work, so you find yourself reading article after article on resume writing, eager to become inspired by little nuggets of wisdom that Nationally Certified Resume Writers provide.
So to not disappoint, I have provided the top three resume mistakes that are easily avoidable.
Follow the resume advice below and you will increase the chances that your resume will read better than your previous attempts.
Mistake #1: “Jack of All Trades” Resume
Let’s face it: an employer is never looking for a hairdresser/janitor/customer service representative. You will find job descriptions are very specific in terms of what qualifications are needed for the open position—the focus being on the main responsibilities of the job. Still, you may be hesitant to write a very specific resume because you want the reader to know everything about you, just in case a position opens up that you are semi-qualified for.
This strategy almost always backfires. If you send a resume that lacks focus, the hiring manager will assume that you are unfocused and ready to accept any job that comes along. In the meantime, your competition is submitting focused resumes that speak to what the organization is looking for. Who do you think will be the one called in for an interview?
It’s okay if you have more than one focus. Most job seekers do. However, if you fall into this category, this means that you will need more than one resume. There really isn’t any way around this. If you want to get noticed, the resumes you are submitting have to hone in on what the hiring organization is looking for.
Mistake #2: Overuse of Bullets
Statistics indicate that the majority of hiring managers glance at resumes instead of reading them fully. It’s hard to blame them, since most receive hundreds of resumes for every open position.
