5 Common Resume Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Crafting a resume you feel great about can feel nearly impossible, I know. My entire industry exists because resume writing is so challenging, for nearly all of us. But it’s absolutely worth your best effort if you’re looking to land an interview and, ultimately, a fantastic new job.

Having worked as a professional resume writer for 10+ years, I’ve seen people make the same errors over and over again. Let’s talk about the 5 most common mistakes I see, and how to fix them.

?1. Including too Many Details

The Mistake: It's tempting to include every job, duty, and accomplishment on your resume, especially if you have years of experience. However, if you go back too far, or include far more than you need to, you may make it hard for recruiters and hiring managers to see your key qualifications.

The Fix: Be selective and strategic. Focus on the most relevant experiences and achievements that match the job you're applying for. Tailor your resume to highlight the skills and accomplishments that align with the job description. Use bullet points for clarity and keep it concise. Two pages is OK, but make the words earn their spot on the page.

?2. Including too Few Details

The Mistake: Conversely, including too little information can reduce the odds that you'll land interviews. This is especially common among those who have been led to believe that their resume has to be one page no matter what. This simply isn't true.

The Fix: Give yourself permission to go beyond one page if you need to. Don't leave it up to decision makers to connect sparse dots and figure you out. Spell out exactly how and why you make sense for your target job. Share your relevant skills, duties, responsibilities and wins. Make it easy for the reviewer to understand you.

?3. Telling Instead of Showing

The Mistake: Using vague descriptions like "responsible for managing projects" or "assisted in customer service" doesn't tell employers much about your actual contributions or the impact you made.

The Fix: Be specific and quantify your achievements wherever possible. Instead of "managed projects," say "led a team of 10 on a project that increased sales by 20% over six months." Numbers and specific outcomes make your resume more compelling and give employers a clear picture of your capabilities.

?4. Sloppy Formatting, Spelling, or Grammar

The Mistake: Moving too quickly to get a resume done, or assuming that no one will judge you for minor errors is a recipe for a long job search and plenty of rejections. If you want to come across as polished, detail-oriented, and uber professional, a sloppy resume isn't going to be your winning ticket.

The Fix: Go beyond spellcheck when finalizing your resume. Take a very close look at the entire document and make sure your spacing is consistent, fonts are consistent, things that you bold or italicize are consistent, and grammar and spelling are flawless. If you've spent the time to create a resume, spend the time to fine-tune and finalize it.

?5. Wrong Keywords

The Mistake: Creating one resume, using static keywords, and not modifying the document to align directly with the role your applying for will very likely reduce the response rate from recruiters and hiring managers. I'll say this until I'm blue in the face: decision makers are moving quickly through candidate resumes. They're skimming with the hopes they'll find obvious evidence that you're a decent match for the positions they're working to fill. If they're looking for a duck and, on paper, you don't really look like a duck, you're probably not landing an interview.

The Fix: Read the job description very closely. Highlight the skills and experience the role calls for then look at your resume and make adjustments where needed. You can also use generative AI. For every role you are going to apply for, copy the job description and head over to ChatGPT. The prompt I use is:

What are the 5 most important skills listed in this job description? "<PASTE JOB DESCRIPTION HERE>"

?Wrapping Up

When you want or need to land a new job, you want things to progress as quickly as possible (unless you are a masochist, which I'm reasonably certain you're not). Take the time, every time, to stack the cards in your favor.

Need help crafting a powerful resume that lands you interviews?

1.Grab a copy of our just launched Ridiculously Awesome Resume Kit 2.0

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Even better, we're offering a subscribers-only deal this week. Get $10 off through August 1 with promo code HOTHOTHOT.

2.View my recently updated Resume Makeover course on LinkedIn Learning

If you're more of a video/visual learning person, I've also made my Resume Makeover course available at no cost (and viewable without a LinkedIn Premium membership) to all subscribers. You'll find that right HERE .

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