

10. Providing References

What about stating “References upon request”? You are only wasting those precious lines of your resume. Don’t write about it, if needed employers will request it.

09. Not including the right keywords

More and more companies are using ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to automatically filter all applications they receive. So you should match the words on your resume with the words related to your job target.

08. Misspellings and grammatical errors

Spell checking your resume is not enough. Ask someone you trust to review it because it is hard to catch our own mistakes. Another option is to read it out loud to find those errors. Make your resume grammatically perfect otherwise recruiters will notice.

07. Including your headshot

There are exceptions if you are working in a profession where you rely on your looks to work, such as modeling and acting. But, otherwise keep your headshot off your resume and focus on your talent and accomplishments. Pictures are a distraction for recruiters and enable you to be discriminated against.

06. It is too long

The length of your resume is the first thing (unless you have a picture) popping on recruiters’ eyes. You have 6 seconds to convince them to read your resume, so the longer your resume is, more difficult it will be for them go for it. If you choose the right words for the job, you will be able to put it all together in a 1 to 2 pages resume.

05. Not listing your hobbies/extracurricular activities

Recruiters usually have very positive reaction to volunteer work and sports related interests. Don’t keep them away from your resume, instead make them highlight your skills.

04. No action verbs

“Responsible for” is a big turn-off for recruiters! Instead use action verbs in the past tense (in case you no longer work there) to describe your contributions in each position. Resolved, delivered, exceeded, trained and designed are some examples.

03. Poor and unattractive layout

Usually most resumes have too much text in a very busy visual layout. You have to help recruiters and make them want to read your resume. Your layout is the key in any case: you can hide the fact you have a lot of information if you have a good layout as you can also use a good layout to hide the fact you are not that experienced yet.

02. Using an objective statement

Employers do read your resume objective, but most of the times get the same vague sentences. Be more specific and address your statement directly to what your career goals are whilst making sure to meet their needs.

01. Highlighting responsibilities and tasks’ descriptions

This is the main problem with most resumes: you are listing your job description not your job achievements and unique contribution. So what real value are you adding? Not much to be honest. Example: go from ”Responsible for marketing campaigns and marketing material designs” to “Created and implemented 3 marketing campaigns and designed +20 marketing materials (posters and flyers) resulting on 100% of increase in our brand awareness and 200% on online applications, compared to the previous year”. It’s measurable and it provides context.