VALiNTRY’s SVP of IT Recruitment and resident resume expert, Eric Lyublinksy shares the 5 mistakes that many candidates make on their resume. Follow these resume tips and ensure your resume is seen by as many hiring authorities as possible!
1.) Don’t leave out personal information – such as full name, address, email and phone number. If you are developing a resume for your job search make sure to have your personal information available, which will make it possible for prospective employers to reach you. Be sure to provide multiple ways to contact you.
2.) Spelling and Grammar mistakes happen even to the best of writers. Have at least two other people read your resume, and if you are a person using a product as a skill set, confirm that the way the product is written is searchable. For example, if you write code in C#, don’t write it as “C-Sharp” on your resume. Most Word processing systems will automatically spell check for you. Please use them!
3.) Depending on work experience, resume lengths can vary. The resume should not be more than 2-5 pages, no matter how long you have been working. Please do not add irrelevant work experience. If you have 10 years of experience and are applying to a developer position, the job you had at 16 flipping burgers doesn’t belong on the resume. However, if it built your character because it motivated your work ethic in college, then by all means… mention it, but in the interview, not the resume!
4.) Incorrect resume sequencing. Don’t do it! Here are some ordered rules of thumb to follow:
- Objective OR Summary
- Skill Set
- Experience
- Education (Unless you have a high level degree like a PhD)
- References
Why is this important? Recruiters and computers read your resume from top to bottom, giving more weight/attention to what’s at the top of your resume. Your skill set and what you’re looking for are the most important. The average recruiter/hiring manager will look at your resume for less than 30 seconds, so make sure they get the information they need about your qualifications and preferences as quickly as possible.
5.) Don’t complicate the format of your resume. Simple is always better. A complex resume format could hinder your resume from being passed from internal HR systems, to automated resume databases, and then to job boards.
Save your resume as a Word Document or PDF. Online resumes look very cool and are growing in popularity, but most Applicant Tracking Systems (the software that recruiters and HR departments use to track job applicants and candidates) still can’t read other formats (like .pages or .odt files) or websites. So, if you want to cast the widest net, please make sure you keep it simple, or make a website and an “old-fashioned” text resume.
Ready to talk to Eric or one of the other VALiNTRY recruiters about your resume? Contact us today!