River City Staffing reviews thousands of resumes every month. Here are some of the most common mistakes you don’t want to make!
Not proofreading
Grammatical errors and typos can really hurt your chances of being hired. No one expects you to be perfect but they do expect your resume to be perfect! As your primary job-searching document and first impression, a lack of attention to detail can rule you out of a position before you even get started.
Not including full contact information
Some people have been the best fit for a job opening, but that doesn't matter if the hiring manager is unable to contact the candidate. On a related note, having an unprofessional email address can also hurt your chances of being moved to the next step of the hiring process. A traditional, name-only account for business use from gmail or a similar service is more appropriate.
Putting too much information on the resume
Make the hiring manager’s job easier by allowing them to see the most important information first. Remove the outdated information that isn’t relative or doesn't contribute directly to your goal and their position. If you must leave that information on your resume, be sure to minimize it and instead, highlight the areas that are important to them.
Bad formatting
Use headers, bold print, bullets, and sections to make sure the most important and relevant information is easy to find. That being said, don’t use them all on the same paragraph. If you use bold, you don’t necessarily need a bullet. If you need to email your resume, send it in a PDF file. Uploading it in a word processing file can cause it to lose its formatting when it gets to on the hiring manager’s computer.
Including too much personal information
Focus on the skills that directly relate to the position you are applying for, and your strengths. Hiring managers are not concerned with your hobbies, marital status, or whether or not you have children, unless it relates to their industry. They are only concerned with whether you have the skills necessary to perform in their position. Cleaning up your social media accounts is also a good idea since they are public information and available to anyone at any time during the hiring process; make sure your privacy settings are set correctly and that you remove any inappropriate posts.
Using a generic objective (or any at all)
Do not waste space and time with an objective that does not apply to the specific position you are applying for. Try using a "professional summary" that will highlight your key strengths and skills which are applicable to each specific role. Be sure to always tailor your resume to each job opportunity for the best results.