7 Mistakes That Make Your Resume Look Really Unprofessional
Have you ever blindly sent out your resume in hopes that someone will pick it up out of a stack of hundreds of others? You’re definitely not the only one. But what happens when someone does finally pick it up–and they find mistakes that make you look unprofessional?
Here are 7 of the most common resume mistakes that you should avoid. They might just be the reasons you’re not getting that call back.
1. Aesthetically unappealing
Putting a little effort into your resume’s layout never hurts. A page of text that simply lists all of your experience is less than ideal. Something better–and a bit easier to read–would be a “creative style” resume, or a template found online.
2. Generalizations
Writing generic tasks rather than specific, spot-on experiences leaves potential employers wondering if you even know what you did at that position. Don’t leave them second guessing–spell out your experience exactly, but concisely.
3. Passive phrases
Avoid using the passive voice by making yourself the primary proponent throughout your entire resume. Things did not happento you. They happened because of you.
4. Overused adjectives
Using fluffy words unfortunately doesn’t get anyone anywhere in life, at the end of the day. Overused adjectives, such as “compelling” or “vibrant” can be descriptive–but also ring cliché and a bit previously done.
5. Downplaying your strengths
No matter how little you may have done at a job, you have to be honest with what you did in your previous work. Beyond that, however, it’s also important to emphasize that not everything you did was a beginner’s or intern’s job.
6. Sending out the same resume to all employers
Although it can seem more efficient to simply reuse the same resume over and over again, it will ultimately hurt you in the long run. Customizing resumes for certain jobs shows that you have the correct skill set for that work–and that’s something you definitely want to portray in your resume.
7. Typos
The easiest thing can be the hardest one to catch of all. Double, triple, and quadruple check your grammar and spelling–and have someone else take a look, too.
Don’t forget: You’ve only got one chance to make a first impression.