6 Resume Mistakes You Don't Want To Make

In a competitive job market, writing a resume that works for you is essential. After all, this document is the first chance that you have to leave a positive impression on companies. It’s an opportunity to sell yourself, showing off your experience and skills. You want your resume to stand out, but it must do so for the right reasons. Even when you’re a qualified candidate, one small error could cost you your shot. With that in mind, here are six resume mistakes to avoid.

1. Overlooking Grammatical Errors

Your resume has to be grammatically perfect. Even one tiny misspelling or punctuation error could give hiring managers and employers the impression that you don’t care. Spotting mistakes on your own can be tricky, which is why you should have someone else read over your resume too. You can also use free grammar tools to check for errors that most spell checks will miss.

2. Forgetting Important Experience

It’s necessary that you tailor your resume to the job itself. However, you shouldn’t edit the document so much that you leave off important experience. Although attending flight school is more relevant for jobs related to aviation, the soft skills learned in such an environment, like time management and teamwork, can benefit you everywhere. It also makes your resume stand out.

3. Missing Contact Information

The main goal of a resume is to get you an interview. This, unfortunately, is unlikely to happen if you leave off your contact information. Without your address or phone number, recruiters will have a very difficult time getting a hold of you. This means that they won’t be able to offer you an interview. Before submitting your resume, therefore, you must ensure this information is present.

4. Using Unattractive Format

Employers tend to scan resumes for just a few seconds before choosing whether to throw them in the trash or move them to the next round. If your document is unattractive or confusing, featuring five different fonts and wall-to-wall text, then you’ll find yourself with the first group. The last thing you want to do is give recruiters a headache, so stick with one font and leave gaps.

5. Including A Headshot

Employers are supposed to hire staff based on their skills and experience, not their looks. This means that, unless you’re an actor, there is no reason why you should include a headshot in your resume. This is not a common practice, although many believe it to be, and could leave a bad impression on the companies you’re applying to.

6. Creating One Resume

Resumes are not one-size-fits-all documents. You’ll find that different businesses in different industries hire in very different ways. This means that you shouldn’t apply for jobs in the same way. Instead, you should tailor your resume to various companies and positions. Make sure that you remember to highlight specific skills or experiences relating to the open role.

Crafting a resume can be tricky, but, as long as you avoid the mistakes above, there’s very little that can go wrong.