Resume Mistakes and Hiring Managers' Pet Peeves

Now most of you aren’t in professions where you view resumes on a daily basis, so just take my word for it – the majority of resumes out there are mediocre at best. I hear the same sentiments from recruiters and hiring managers; most people just don’t know how to write a great resume. I spend a lot of time telling my clients what you should do to improve your resume and your job search strategy, but now I am going to include what you shouldn’t do – because you’re probably already doing it. These are the biggest pet peeves on resumes and common mistakes that have stopped your resume from being short-listed or placed in the circular file. Even if you think your resume is fine, keep reading. We know you’ve made at least one of these errors.

Now let’s get started, we’ve got a long list to get through.

1. No Formatting

Before the hiring manager reads a single word on your resume, they see your format. The problem is, with many resumes, there’s no format to look at. If your experience lists the name of the company first, then your job title, dates that you worked and then the city the job was in while your section on education has the job title first, then the name of the company second, it is truly a visual eyesore for a hiring manager. You do not necessarily know proper formatting because most people simply do an internet search for resume templates. This is obvious to people in human resources and basically proves that you haven’t really tried. You opened a prefixed document and just started typing without paying any attention to the visual presentation of your resume.

I suggest starting with a blank page in Microsoft Word.

Google Docs, Mac, Apache and many other word document programs are not all compatible with the gold standard - MS Word. What you type in Google docs may not line up like it would in MS Word and the formatting would almost look blatantly ridiculous. Besides the issue of accessibility, you want it to line up properly and you want to be conscious of dead space.

2. Contact Information

First of all, have you even included your contact information at the top of your resume? Seems like a silly question, but we’ve seen resumes that lack even these basic details. If you did include your contact information, did you include the right information? You would be surprised what your contact information says about you. Ensure you have a local address, a professional email address and one personal phone number listed. Not putting an address can be a tell-tale sign that you are trying to hide something. I also stress, one phone number. Home, work, Cell, ICE#, girlfriend’s mom’s house is all a bit unnecessary. Cell number is probably the most efficient and readily available number for you to be reached at, so just leave that one. If you do not have a cell phone then you only leave your home number. Add a hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile if you use it regularly. If you do not check it often, then don’t bother. Sexy_babe4u@aol.com is not an acceptable email address. Emails with underscores (like the aforementioned email address) or dashes, or misspelled words tend to be typed incorrectly when someone wishes to respond. Cryptic email addresses that look like passwords with random letters and numbers are confusing and can be mistyped. A simple first name or initial and full last name is satisfactory. Would you want to limit the amount of interviews you get because no one will either type in your email address, or worse, can’t understand it?

Unless it is an electronic copy, do not leave it underlined or blue. Format!

3. Objective Statement

An objective statement is weak and does not conform to current resume standards. I spoke about this in a previous blog post after meeting with a few hiring managers. An objective statement is telling the Hiring Manager what you want out of the role. To be frank, the Hiring Manager does not care about what you want; they care about whether or not you’ll be a good fit for the role. Therefore, you should eliminate your objective and instead discuss the value you will bring to the role throughout the resume. Sometimes, a professional profile is acceptable but only if it is NOT going to be repeated in the body of your work experience or elsewhere on the resume.

4. Lack of Customization

If you are using the same resume for multiple positions, the Hiring Manager can tell. In order to increase your chances of being noticed, you must customize the keywords of your resume to suit each individual role. If you’re not taking the time to do so for your resume, you can bet that someone else is, and they are getting the call-backs. Boldface, underlining, borders and funky fonts should never be the way to customize your resume. You can use any font you want as long as it is plain text like Calibri or times new roman. Some fancier fonts cannot be read by accessibility programs so I suggest avoiding them.

5. No Keywords

If your resume doesn’t have keywords, you are basically doomed. If a Hiring Manager is personally reading (skimming) your resume, they are looking for keywords. Many times, you have to pass an automated keyword scanner called the "applicant tracking system" (ATS) in order to get to the Hiring Manager. I spoke about this in another blog a few months ago. If keywords are not present on your resume, you can count yourself out for that job opportunity. You should include the keywords present in the job description, as you know that is what employers will be looking for, just try NOT to repeat their job description word for word. That is another obvious sign that you gave your resume little thought.

6. Ignoring Requests

Follow instructions! If the employer asks for a one page resume, don’t send them five pages. If they ask for a PDF file, don’t send them a Word document. Nothing will make you look worse than your inability to follow simple instructions. This is a dead giveaway of your work ethic, and Hiring Managers will not be impressed. Also, PDF is the gold standard for sending resumes, especially if it is completed with an alternate document creator like Google docs or Apache.

7. First Person

Resumes are never written in the first person. Didn’t we all learn this in high school? A big reason for this is the constant repetition of “I-phrases” throughout the resume. Imagine reading multiple resumes a day, each with the same “I did this” and “I did that” phrases. The boredom would be overwhelming. The fact is that a potential employer will only look at a resume for an average of 20 seconds. If “I” is a key word, then it will be dismissed. Try to think of your style of writing in terms of 'we" or "us" to demonstrate your team compatibility.

8. Job Descriptions

We get it, nobody likes writing a resume so they try to find an easy way to get it done quick. Many people resort to copying and pasting their job description into the resume. This is the worst idea. The job description is a generic list of tasks that the person is required to do. That means, that anyone who fulfills this role, will be required to complete these tasks. There is no originality, no achievements and no contributions. Describe your job in a list. Then take the parts of the job that are redundant and combine them. Leave out the basics and mundane tasks that you normally do and try to think a little more globally. If your job was to describe your morning routine what would you say? I wake up, I scratch myself, I brush my teeth, I make a cup of coffee, etc., or would you describe how you arise refreshed, and chose to invigorate yourself to prepare for a day full of activities. Words are powerful and it is easy to create an image without being superfluous.

9. Length

Resumes that go over one page in length, are never as strong as resumes that maintain a rigid format. Your resume is guaranteed to be viewed by more Hiring Managers and Recruiters if you stay on one page. Exceeding this limit means that you are unable to be concise and pinpoint your strongest achievements. There are some instances when 2 pages would be allowed, especially if you have many achievements, publications, awards, merits and speaking engagements. The fact is most resumes that go beyond one page are usually littered with dead space and boring, lengthy job descriptions from irrelevant jobs from your past. If you were a newspaper delivery person 20 years ago, I do not think it is necessary to mention it. I see a lot of resumes with technical skills like computer programs that are completely immaterial or unrelated to the job you are applying for.

One of the biggest pet peeves of HR personnel is when they go to print a resume and the 2nd page only has a few lines of information or even worse, the second page is blank because you left a bunch of spaces on your document and didn’t realize it.

10. Lack of Examples

You can tell the Hiring Manager that you did all kinds of amazing things, but without a description of each example, it all just sounds like fluff. Examples are a great way to show the Hiring Manager what you’re capable of, instead of generically telling them. This will resonate much stronger with the reader. Along with examples comes proof. If you tell a Hiring Manager that you increased sales year-over-year, but don’t bother saying how much you increased sales by – there’s no proof. Your numbers quantify your achievements and catch the Hiring Manager’s attention.

11. Repetition

When restricted to a one page limit, why would you waste space repeating yourself? If you completed similar tasks in multiple roles, mention them once under the most recent role, and leave it be. Do not copy the exact same line under each role because the Hiring Manager already understands that you have that capability. Use that space to tell them something new.

12. Dates and places

Be specific with your dates! We’ve already mentioned several times that ambiguity will never help you on a resume. If you were in a contract role for only three months, make that clear on the resume. If you simply list the year with no time frame, you look like you have something to hide. Include the month and year that you entered each role, along with the month and year that you left each role if it was less than a year or two. If you have been at the same place for 3+ years it is fine to list the years without the months, but you need to show consistency on the resume so consider if this is something you can do with all of the dates that you mentioned.

If you worked in the same town your entire life and now you are moving onto the big city, do not assume that everyone knows the city and state. Sometimes mentioning different cities and states proves you are flexible and adaptable to a new environment.

13. Functional Resume

If you’ve chosen to use a functional resume and listed all of your different skill-sets at the top of your resume, you may be shortlisted. There is nothing more frustrating than a functional resume. It’s great that you’ve told the Hiring Manager how diverse and adaptable your skills are, however they want to know when you obtained these skills and under what context. What are your innate talents and when did you acquire them? This can all be incorporated into your job descriptions. Hiring managers may not want to read through your objectives, professional summary and then at the bottom of the page they can see where you went to school or where you worked in the past. Pay attention to the spacing and limit your bullet points, otherwise it looks like you are trying to bury something at the bottom of the resume or even worse, the reader will lose interest before getting through the second half of the page.

14. Academic Details

Education sections generally lack one of two pieces of information. Either the candidate includes the name of the school they attended, but neglected to include the course or program name. Or they included the course or program name, but did not include the school’s name. Your academic details are not complete without both pieces of information. Be proud of your degree and make sure you list it the way it is written on your diploma. You spent 4 years at ABC University earning your Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, so why would you just say ABC University BS?

Were you on the dean’s list or were you awarded any academic achievements that you are proud of? The Award for Perfect Attendance or a contribution to the school newspaper may be the one detail that interests the manager looking over the resume and convinces them to keep reading so I would not dismiss all of your accomplishments unless there is something else on the resume that takes precedence for space. For obvious reasons, a recent graduate should have a plethora of activities and accomplishments under their listed school and degree, but the longer you have been in the work force, the more accomplishments you have in real life experience, therefore there should be less focus on the education section.

15. References

This is an incredibly outdated practice in the world of resume writing. Another common mistake is including “References Available upon Request” at the bottom of your resume. Requesting references is no longer an option for employers, it is a requirement. Therefore, letting them know that your references are available upon request is simply redundant. I suggest printing them up in the same format as your resume and cover letter, on the same type of resume paper and you should be able to provide it to the interviewer in a neat, plain and simple 2 pocket folder with any letters of recommendation, certificates, merits, awards, etc.

This list is sure to grow as I add more thoughts. I will talk more about cover letters as well which are an equally important part of the job hunting equation.