Day 14: Avoid These Mistakes – Common Resume Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Tips to Ensure Your Resume is Error-Free
Visvanathan Sambasivam
?? Mentor, Teacher, Coach ???? Founder, Growth Catalysts Hub ?? Lifelong Learner ??Executive Director, CPG, Retail & Shopper, NielsenIQ ?? 28+ yrs of Consumer Insights & Market Research
Your resume represents you, so it’s critical to ensure it’s polished, professional, and free of mistakes. Even small errors can give the impression that you’re careless or not detail-oriented. To maximize your chances of landing an interview, avoid these common resume mistakes.
1. Typos and Grammar Errors
Spelling mistakes and grammar errors are some of the easiest ways to get your resume rejected. These errors can suggest a lack of attention to detail, which is a crucial skill in almost every job. Always proofread your resume multiple times before sending it out.
Example:
One candidate, Ramesh, applied for a marketing role but didn’t notice he had misspelled “campaign” as “campain” throughout his resume. The mistake cost him the interview.
Action Tip:
Use spellcheck, but also ask a friend or colleague to review your resume for errors. Fresh eyes can often catch mistakes you might overlook.
2. Including Irrelevant Information
Your resume should focus on the most relevant experience and skills for the job you’re applying to. Including irrelevant information, like personal details or unrelated work experience, distracts from your qualifications and can make your resume too long.
Example:
Instead of listing every job you’ve had, including that part-time retail job from college, focus on the roles and experiences that are directly relevant to the job you want.
Action Tip:
Tailor your resume for each job application. Remove or downplay roles that aren’t related to the current position, and emphasize relevant experience.
3. Overusing Buzzwords
While it’s important to use industry-specific keywords for ATS, overloading your resume with buzzwords like “synergy,” “innovative,” or “results-driven” can make it sound generic and insincere. Focus on concrete examples of your accomplishments instead.
Example:
Instead of saying “I am a results-driven professional,” say “Increased revenue by 15% through strategic client acquisition.”
Action Tip:
Remove vague buzzwords from your resume and replace them with specific examples of what you’ve achieved.
4. Poor Formatting
An unorganized or cluttered resume is hard to read, and recruiters may give up before finding the important details. Keep your formatting simple and professional, with clear section headers, consistent fonts, and enough white space.
Example:
One candidate submitted a resume with different font sizes, inconsistent bullet points, and narrow margins. This made the resume look cluttered and unprofessional, costing them the opportunity.
Action Tip:
Stick to a clean, easy-to-read format. Use the same font throughout your resume, and make sure your bullet points and headers are consistently formatted.
5. Listing Responsibilities Instead of Achievements
As discussed earlier, simply listing job responsibilities doesn’t show how you made an impact. Employers want to know what results you’ve achieved. Focus on accomplishments, not tasks.
Example:
Instead of saying, “Responsible for handling customer queries,” say “Resolved 95% of customer queries on first contact, improving satisfaction scores by 20%.”
Action Tip:
Go through your resume and change any points that list responsibilities to focus on achievements. Use numbers and specific results whenever possible.
Example Resume Revision
Let’s take a look at a before-and-after example of how you can apply these principles:
Before (Incorrect):
"Responsible for managing a team of salespeople and handling customer complaints. Responsible for increasing sales."
After (Correct):
"Led a team of 10 salespeople, increasing regional sales by 25% in Q4 2023. Resolved 95% of customer complaints within 24 hours, improving customer satisfaction scores by 20%."
Action Tip:
Review your resume for any vague or generic responsibilities and replace them with specific, quantifiable achievements that demonstrate the impact you made in your role.
Final Action Steps to Perfect Your Resume
Now that you’ve learned about common resume mistakes and how to avoid them, here’s your next step:
Action Point:
Go through your resume with a fine-tooth comb. Check for typos, grammatical mistakes, and irrelevant information. Focus on rephrasing responsibilities into measurable achievements. Finally, ensure that the layout is clean, consistent, and easy to read. If possible, ask someone else to review it to give you objective feedback.
By taking the time to polish your resume and avoid common pitfalls, you’ll increase your chances of making a strong impression on hiring managers and getting that coveted interview.
Action Summary
If you want to learn a little more about how you can create this magic, please feel free to get in touch with me. You may want to check out my course: "Unlocking the Secrets to Getting that Dream Job"??
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About the Author: Visvanathan Sambasivam
I am a corporate professional, having worked as a Marketing / Consumer Insights professional in various Indian and Global MNCs for the last 30 years, with a passion for mentoring, teaching, and coaching; with a vision of helping 1 million people in their personal and professional growth.
I write regularly on LinkedIn & Facebook and have mentored many people in their professional journey.