Resumes - if they're worth writing, they're worth proofreading

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROOFREAD YOUR RESUME?

Proofreading your resume is particularly important if you intend to apply for jobs that require good writing skills or attention to detail. But even when applying for jobs that don't need those skills, a spelling mistake might make the difference between your potential employer giving you a ring to arrange an interview, or your potential employer not calling you for an interview because there were spelling mistakes in your resume.

No matter what sort of job you're applying for, a resume that contains spelling or punctuation errors says: I'm unprofessional. A resume that is well-presented with no errors says: I'm professional. 

CAN'T I JUST USE SPELLCHECK?

1. Unlike a human proofreader, Spellcheck won't notice or correct all errors.
2. If you are applying for a job in Australia you need to use Australian spelling. Spellcheck will tell you the Australian spelling is incorrect and to correct the word into American English. And Spellcheck certainly won't regard words spelled the American way as incorrect. On the other hand, a human proofreader will be able to make sure everything is spelled correctly (the Australian way).

Note: few examples of words spelled differently in Australia and America are: 'organisation' (Australian); 'organization' (American). 'Colour' (Australian); 'color' (American). 'Centre' (Australian); 'Center' (American). 

CAN I PROOFREAD MY OWN RESUME?

After writing and editing your resume, if you have any friends or colleagues with good knowledge of spelling, grammar and punctuation, ask them to proofread your resume. They should notice the errors that you have not, and may discover something important that's been left out (e.g. your email address). 

If you don't have a friend with basic proofreading skills and your knowledge of spelling, grammar and punctuation are not very good, you should ask a professional proofreader to proofread your resume. As long as it's been well-written, formatted and edited and is ready for proofreading, the proofreading stage shouldn't take longer than half an hour and the task should not cost you very much.

If you don't have a friend with basic proofreading skills but your spelling, grammar and punctuation skills are very good, you can proofread your own resume and if you follow the below Tips for proofreading your own resume, the result is likely to be good.

Note: I proofread my own blog articles as well as the profiles, submissions and applications I need to write as part of running my editing business. However, 1) I always take a couple of days' break after self-editing my document before going back to proofread it, 2) I'm a professional editor and proofreader so I have the knowledge required to do a good job, and 3) I'm fully aware that it's very likely my document contains some minor errors. If you see any errors in this article that I've missed, please let me know!

TIPS FOR PROOFREADING YOUR OWN RESUME

1. Make sure you have good knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar. If you don't, you won't be able to correct all the mistakes in your resume.
2. There is an old saying about the importance of using 'a fresh pair of eyes' to proofread because if you know the material too well, you won't notice all the minor errors in the document, whereas if you don't know the material very well you're more likely to pick up on those mistakes. Therefore, make sure that after writing and editing your resume, you wait one or two days before attempting to proofread it. 
3. Read your resume aloud with your voice as well as viewing it with your eyes. Your ear may notice small errors that your eyes may miss.
4. If someone else is proofreading your document, they probably only need to go through it once. If you are proofreading your own document you'll need to proofread it two or three times to make it as correct as possible.
   

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SELF-EDITING AND SELF-PROOFREADING

This article is about self-editing and self-proofreading your resume. Most documents need to be proofread by someone other than yourself; e.g. a manuscript of a book intended for publication; or policies, reports or other corporate documents. Publications need to be edited by a professional editor. Reports, publications, theses, policies, internal and external manuals and some other types of documents need to be proofread by a professional proofreader. Read more about this at: When can you self-edit and when do you need an editor?

Note: I'm currently writing another article about how to write, edit and proofread your own job application... so watch this space.

For other articles about writing, editing and proofreading check out my blog: On Time Typing blog

Copyright Sally-Anne Watson Kane 2017

This article is based on my experience over the past 20 years, working with selection panels and resumes; editing and proofreading reports, policy documents and my own and others' publications; self-publishing mainly non-fiction hardcopy publications; and online writing and publishing (of my website and blog). Keep posted for future articles about editors and editing, proofreaders and proofreading.