Resume And Cover Letter Examples (Page 12 of 12) in pdf

By Christine Ryan Jyoti (adapted by Tom McFadden)

Résumés are the heartbeat of a career search,” says Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, a career and workplace adviser at

Glassdoor. “If done well, your résumé will tell your story and sell you.”

1. Making Grammatical Errors and Typos : There’s no room for sloppiness. According to a 2013 CareerBuilder

survey, 58% of employers identified résumés with typos as one of the top mistakes that led them to automatically

dismiss a candidate.

2. Submitting Incorrect Information: Getting simple details wrong will get your résumé tossed into the reject

pile, fast. “When you put an incorrect phone number down or mess up your job titles or dates, it makes your résumé

look haphazard. If you say you’re detail-oriented, and we catch incorrect information on your résumé, it’s a big red

flag,” say experts.

3. Giving Everyone the Same Résumé: CareerBuilder’s survey found that 36% of employers identified résumés

that are too generic as one of the mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate. “A personalized

résumé is focused to the target audience’s needs,” adds the expert. If the job description says the role requires

market analysis and planning, then weave that language into your résumé content, using real examples of analysis

you performed and the results you achieved.

4. Getting Too Elaborate With Formatting and Style: Don’t let your résumé get out of hand with fonts and

graphs and distract the reader from what’s important (how qualified you are). If you’re going to use bullets, they

should be the same size and shape in each section and align from page to page.

5. Being Vague: Employers like to see as much information as possible up front. Highlight your accomplishments.

If you raised money or saved money, put down the actual dollar figure–never give a generality that you can’t verify

when they dig deeper.

6. Squeezing Too Many Words Onto the Page: CareerBuilder’s data shows that for new college graduates, 66%

of employers say a résumé should be one page long, and for more seasoned workers, 77% of employers say they

expect a résumé that’s at least two pages long.

7. Omitting Exact Dates: CareerBuilder’s survey found that 27% of employers identified résumés that don’t

include exact dates of employment as one of the most common résumé mistakes that may lead them to

automatically dismiss a candidate.

8. Not Including Skills: A list of hard skills and examples of how you put those skills to use in previous positions

is a great way to stand out from the pack. In that same CareerBuilder survey, 35% of employers cited résumés that

don’t include a list of skills as one of the most common résumé mistakes that may lead them to automatically

dismiss a candidate.

9. Using an Objective Statement: Current trends indicate the days of including an objective statement in your

résumé are gone.

—Christine Ryan Jyoti is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer.

Resume And Cover Letter Examples Page 12