5 Reasons Your Resume Might be Undermining Your Job Search

Whether it’s fair or not, your job search will probably revolve around your resume. I’ll write about the importance of networking and other job search best practices in other articles, but your resume is the foundation. That’s because it’s not just a piece of paper with your work history and education on it: It’s your elevator pitch, your life story, and your work sample all in one. Long before you share it with anyone, however, working on your resume is a great way for you to think about the journey you’ve been on, what opportunities you’re prepared for, and what you really want. Once you’ve answered those critical questions, make sure you’re not making one of these five critical errors.

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1.????You didn’t tailor your resume for the specific position

Even the most impressive resumes will benefit from some adjustments to speak directly to a specific audience. The specific words you use and stories you tell should be carefully customized for the job posting, or the individual, you’re submitting it to. LinkedIn tells you what top skills align with each position. It’s a good idea to incorporate these key words into your resume, if possible. You should also read through the job requirements and the company’s description to align your resume as much as possible. The more you speak to each aspect of the company’s culture and the position’s requirements, the better.

It might sound like a lot of work to tailor your resume for each application, but your improved chances of getting an interview will be well worth the effort. You’ll learn to make these small adjustments more quickly as you get used to tailoring certain parts of your resume over and over. It can also be helpful to keep a master resume that includes every bullet point you might want to include and several different ways of telling each story. From that master resume, you can select which points and versions you want to include for each application.

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2.????Your resume is more than one page

I know. I know. Whether it’s okay to have a resume longer than one page or not is the oldest debate in job search history. Unless you’re applying for a government position, however, it should almost always be one page. Why, you ask? Because recruiters and hiring managers only have a few seconds to review your resume. Wouldn’t you rather have them focus on your most impressive and compelling accomplishments? If you’re adding additional bullet points just to round out two or three pages, then you’re probably not going to draw their attention to what you really want them to hone in on.??

Another reason one page is better is because of how strongly recruiters and hiring managers feel about different resume lengths. Yes, people are split down the middle, but I would argue that the one-page champions are the true believers. They’re like people who talk about doing CrossFit and investing in Bitcoin. Someone who prefers one-page resumes is, on average, much more passionate about that opinion than someone who doesn’t mind longer resumes. It’s an OCD thing. In short, having a shorter resume is a safer bet.

3.????You put every single detail on there

Here are a few general rules to follow as you decide what does and does not need to be

on your resume. There’s no need to list:

1.????An associate’s degree if you have a bachelor’s degree.

2.????More than one school as part of the same degree program (if you transferred)

3.????Seasonal, part-time, or irrelevant positions (i.e., moonlighting at Denny’s in college)

4.????Every school club you were part of

5.????Every technology you’re proficient in

6.????Every skill you think you’re great at

7.????Every award you’ve received since 9th grade

8.????Every volunteer organization you’ve worked with

9.????Your GPA. If you received a 3.8 or above, then it might be worth including.

10.?Every position you had in a company if you had several different titles

11.?The exact day of the month you started and stopped each position

As you decide what to put on your resume or take off, ask yourself these questions:

1.????Is it relevant for the position I’m applying to?

2.????Is it an important part of my professional development?

3.????Does it support my personal brand and the story I want to tell?

4.????You didn’t proofread it (again)

?I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reviewed resumes that people thought were perfect only to find they had misspelled their own company’s name or had a typo in their own email address. This isn’t really surprising, though, because we become blind to anything we’ve looked at for too long. Before you send your resume to a hiring manager for your dream job (after they’ve asked for it, of course), send it to at least three professionals and ask them to review it thoroughly. Spellcheck is also your friend.

If you’ve been working on your resume for a while and you think it’s ready, then walk away from it for a few hours or a few days. Come back with a fresh pair of eyes and read it letter for letter from top to bottom. Going from bottom to top can be helpful, too, because we’re programmed to gloss over details when we go left to right and top to bottom like we normally read. After that, take some time to look at the overall structure. Are all of the dates formatted the same way? Are all of the bullet point aligned? Are all of your section titles in bold letters? This might seem tedious, but that’s the point. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Then spellcheck it again.

5.????Your template is too fancy

?Recruiters look at resumes all day every day, so they probably appreciate something more pleasing to the eye, right? Wrong. Your resume must not have any colors, images, graphics, or designs on it. No profile pictures. No dynamic logos. The best resumes are the ones that allow recruiters to find exactly what they’re looking for in the blink of an eye. The sections, dates, and titles on your resume need to be as easy to understand as humanely possible. At The Tempest Group, we use the same resume format recommended by top business schools. Make sure you’re using a template that’s ideal for people and computer systems to read. Otherwise, you might never make it past the first pass.

In short, this is your resume. It’s not a background check that requires you to detail every aspect of your personal and profession life. Should you be absolutely honest? Yes. Does that mean detailing out your whole life story? No. Resumes are a tool to help you tell your story in a clear and concise way - nothing more and nothing less. Before you update your resume, take the time to think carefully about what story you want to tell. Make sure it’s one that logically leads you to the position you’re applying for and make sure you’re ready to talk about the, “why” behind your career journey when you land your next interview.

If you’d like help to perfect your resume, or you feel like your job search has hit a dead end, please email me at [email protected].