For any job vacancy, a hiring manager often receives tens to hundreds of resumes. You can be sure that he/she is not going to go through each one of them in detail. It is most likely that the manager will first spend only about 10-15 seconds on a resume during which he decides whether to shortlist it for further examination or discard it.
To prevent your resume from ending up in the dustbin at the very first glance, there are a few things you should be careful about.
Here are 5 mistakes in a resume that would make a hiring manager reject it instantly:
1. Grammatical and Spelling Errors: Grammar and spelling errors are by far the biggest turn-off in any resume. No matter how strong your resume is in terms of skills and accomplishments, grammatical mistakes immediately portray you as being unprofessional. It gives off the vibe that you aren’t very interested, or that you lack basic writing skills, and your resume will almost certainly be dismissed. You should thus recheck your resume at least twice for grammatical and spelling mistakes before sending it out.
2. Too Much Text: Did we mention that a hiring manager spends just about 10 seconds going through a resume? In those precious 10 seconds, your resume must be able to highlight the most relevant skills and accomplishments that are necessary for the job you are applying for. Having too much unnecessary text can result in the hiring manager not noticing these skills, thereby getting your resume discarded. Not to mention, the hiring manager is only human and might simply get bored to go through your overly lengthy resume.
3. Inappropriate Font: You might be tempted to use a fancy font to make your resume look more stylish or appealing. One word here- “DON’T!”. Hiring managers hate fancy fonts such as “Algerian”, “Blackadder”, “Comic Sans”, etc. Resumes with such unreadable fonts go straight to the dustbin. It's best to use standard professional fonts such as Times New Roman, or Ariel. Also, take care to have a readable font size. A 12 point font is best.
4. Overly Casual Tone: While a few hiring managers might tolerate a funky and casual tone in a resume; most don’t. It is best to keep your resume professional. Don’t write sentences such as “I will make a really awesome employee since I’m super hard-working and have great skills in accounting”. Also, refrain from using personal pronouns such as “I” and “Me”. For instance, - “I got top grades in physics, and a renowned physician awarded me with the young physicist of the year award” should be written as “Secured top grades in physics, and was awarded the young physicist of the year by a renowned physicist.”
5. An Unprofessional Email Address: Your resume might be strong, but an unprofessional email address could easily make hiring managers reject it. If your email address is something like [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected], it’s time to get a new one.
Need more help with resume writing? You might be interested in the following articles:
1. 8 Steps to Write a Successful Resume
2. How to Write Your Objectives in your Resume
3. Resume Checklist for a Winning Resume
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