Writing a good resume is a dream of every student who is
facing interview. You do not want to miss any chance for any single job. Online
job searching is not a rocket science, making a professional resume is.
Now if you want to make a good resume you must follow a good
resume format. Of course, you will find tons of useful resources that will help
you make resume online.
But there are certain details in your resume you want to
double-check before sending mail to any Hiring Manager. Freshers even company
professionals making these mistakes would fail to land their dream job.
These are the most common mistakes on resume and if you
avoid these you will save yourself a career. So read on.
1. Do I look nice?
Yes. You do.
But you do not have to tell your interviewer. And if you are
not applying for any Model or Artistic Industry, I am sure they do not even
care about your looks.
Many students who are applying for a job for the first time,
think they must stick a photograph, like it will bewitch the employers.
The truth is that the photograph has to leave, until it is
asked for. Your skills and qualifications are more important.
2. My house is 2 blocks from Community Park.
Lucky for you.
Now, employers are very unlikely to visit your house or even
the park. They are not interested to send you offer letter by post.
Emails are the vessels of our destiny. We live in digital
era and we use Emails for our official communications. It is not wise to
include exact details of your residence. Just the name of city will do the job.
After all we DO give our contact number. That does the part.
3. Too Flashy and Trashy
Your creative side may distract many. In the last post I
told how important it is to include text based information in the resume. If
you add all the flashy graphics, your resume may not go to the next round.
Keeping minimal design shows professionalism and dedication.
4. "I cannot read, it’s all elvish."
This is what the employers feel when they find a resume with
the different fonts. Using two fonts in a single resume or using crazy font
formatting will make you less appealing to the employers.
Keep Times, Cambria or Arial. You may Bold, Italicized, or
underline to highlight some point, as you wish. But don’t use all the different
formats in same sentence.
5. Spell check once
again, and again.
Every resume should pass through grammar check and spell
check. Any deviation from these two checks is big red flags to your employers
about your application.
Your resume forecasts your work.
You will not gain any advantage writing long, elaborate, and
detailed resumes. Resumes are short, but not too short, summary of your
academic and professional profile.
7. Cooking, dancing, singing, gardening, ......and leaving.
This was five years ago. No one is going to make you cook,
dance, or sing in the Company you are applying for. There is no need to write
what interests you.
Instead write relevant experience related to the job you are
applying for.
Tip: Mention what you can 'solve' for them.
8. 50+ courses in 5 months
No need to include all those certificate courses you have
done since the dawn.
Some graduates who are fond of online course certification
include everything they have learnt, even though it does not match with the job
profile.
I once saw a graduate candidate adding "Online English Grammar
Course" Certificate from Udemy. This is one such redundant bullet that
needs to leave resume.
I mean. C'mon. A graduate does not need to show that he knows
basic English grammar.
Solution is to add top 5-7 course certificates which you
have Mastered and applied to solve real life problems.
9. Find me on Facebook and Instagram - NOT!
No employer, at least real ones, will ever ask for your
personal details or links to your personal social sites.
Be professional. Linkden, Github, Quora, or any website you
have worked on is always welcomed on your resume.
10. Jack of all trades
Jack wanted to master all the Fortune500 Company. So he made
a resume, applied all the correct fonts, used spell checker, and did everything
fine.
He made his resume for an Automobile sector, then took that
same resume to the Medical Center, then to Academic Institute, then Public
Service, then a Rehabilitation Center...and so on.
At the end, he could not be a master of any one of the Companies.
Lesson learnt! Do not use same resume to different companies,
positions or places you are applying for.
Make relevant changes accordingly.
Tip: Keep a resume template, and make changes according to
the field you are applying for.
Conclusion:
Use Resume Template from an authentic source. Keep up with the
latest LinkedIn posts related to the resume format. Use this 10 check list and
avoid them. And rock that interview!
I am sure there is more to this list. Comment below if you
think so.
