Well, most job opportunities posted online receive applications from far more people than the employer could reasonably have time to interview. So, they - and their software filters – screen the incoming resumes down to a more manageable number for further consideration.
Of those candidates whose resumes make the cut, only a select few are then chosen to be interviewed for the job. There are quite a few mistakes that candidates often make that crush their chances of being selected for the next round in the recruitment process. Here's a look at some of the most common – and how you can avoid them.
Using the same generic resume for every job you apply to. This seems tempting. You spend hours writing, designing, and proofreading a perfect resume that sums up your education, work history, and core skills. Now, you are ready to blast it out to every job opportunity available in your field. Employers are sure to be impressed, right? At least, some of them, right?
Sadly, probably not. Employers have a keen eye for a generic job application, and these are among the ones they tend to ignore. Plus, a resume that hasn't been customized for the job is more likely to miss out on the relevant keywords that the company's ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is filtering for. This is how many resumes end up getting screened out of contention before the employer even has a chance to read them.
Read the job description carefully, and research the company you want to work for in detail. Form a clear understanding of what the challenges of the role and the team will be over the coming months. Then write your resume highlighting how you can be an asset to the organization in overcoming these.
When you describe your skills, experience, and accomplishments, do so with a focus on what will be the most relevant to the job at hand.
Poor choice of contact information. Many candidates fail to consider the message their contact information conveys to potential employers. Don't make this mistake. Your contact information appears right at the top of the page, and if a hiring manager wants to get in touch with you, they will be looking closely at this information.
Make it professional. Don't use the email address or phone number from your present place of employment. It doesn't make a positive impression on a future company that you would use your current employer’s resources to look for other jobs.
List your personal – yet professional-looking – email address and phone number. Be sure to check both of these daily for new messages while you are conducting a job search campaign.
Opening with a career objective. This is a classic mistake: beginning your resume with an opening paragraph about what you are seeking in a new job. Your resume is a marketing document. The product is you, and the customer is the employer. Effective marketing pitches the benefits of the product to the customer.
When you write a resume, your objective is to get hired. You accomplish this objective by highlighting what you can do for the employer – not what you want from them.
Start your resume off with an elevator pitch. Write an opening summary paragraph that highlights why you would be a great candidate for the role, what you have to offer.
Describing your duties at past jobs rather than your accomplishments. The fact that you are in the field and have similar work experience to the job you want won't help you stand out from rival candidates with comparable backgrounds. Pointing out your day-to-day job requirements in past roles only serves to make you appear like a generic, dime-a-dozen candidate, and that isn't who gets hired.
Don't write about the routine; highlight the standout moments instead. Your resume should detail your key on-the-job accomplishments in previous roles. Whenever possible, use numbers, percentages, or concrete examples to illustrate how you made a difference for your previous employers, what you achieved that a different person in the same role might not have.
[We provide examples of how to do this in the article: How to Write a Resume.]
Listing too many jobs and skills. More is better, right? Not always. Many candidates think that the more skills and experience they have in their resume, the more likely they are to be hired for the job. Often, this isn't the case.
Employers scan resumes quickly to look for those candidates who seem to be the best fit for the job they are trying to fill. Resumes that contain a great deal of irrelevant information are more likely to be passed over – even if they include some great achievements that could be of value to the employer.
When it comes to your resume, think quality over quantity. You don't need to include every job you've ever held in your career. Just focus on your more recent employment and those roles where your work and accomplishments demonstrate why you would be a stellar candidate for the job you want.
Using an unappealing layout and format. Candidates can similarly lose employers during their initial quick scan of resumes by crafting a text-heavy document full of dense paragraphs tightly packed together.
Use bolded section headers, short paragraphs, and bullet points to maximize the balance of text and white space in your resume. This also allows you to direct the reader's eye to your best selling points rather than having them lose focus while wading through an overload of information.
Having spelling and grammar mistakes. I've known many employers who say that even one spelling error or typo is enough to get a resume trashed. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, so why should a single bad keystroke ruin your chances of being hired?
Your resume is a document created for one purpose – to impress potential employers. What does it say to them when you can take as much time as you like to write your resume, and you can choose when to submit it, you still can't craft an error-free document? How will you perform in a high-pressure situation or with a tight deadline?
You can avoid the most common errors that people make in their resumes by specifically tailoring yours to be relevant to the job you want, making it visually appealing and easy to read, and proofreading it until you are certain that it is free from grammatical mistakes and typos.
