Job-seekers are often told that getting a job is all about networking, but at some point in the job search, almost everyone hears something like, "Well, send me your resume, and I'll make sure it gets in front of the right person."
Will you be prepared?
A recent CareerBuilder survey found that 45 percent of hiring managers say they spend less than a minute on each application--and that includes both the cover letter and the resume. So it's crucial that your resume grab their attention, keep it, and reward it. Unfortunately, surveys of hiring managers, career coaches, and resume experts show that there are eight resume mistakes that can doom you before you even get started. Stay away from them, and you'll be one step closer to landing your dream job.
Click here for the mistake that's both the worst blow to your resume and the easiest mistake to avoid
Typos and grammatical errors are probably the single simplest way to knock yourself out of contention for a job. It's easy to hear the thoughts running through the hiring manager's head: "If this person doesn't care enough to proofread their own resume, how much will they possibly care about our customers? How conscientious can they possibly be?"
The solution is simple. Proofread. Proofread again. Use the spell checker on your word processing program. Then—and this is the step most people skip—send it to a few friends who will give it a really close read (and who can spell). They'll be looking at your resume with fresh eyes, which is almost impossible for you to do. Hopefully they'll find any typos you've missed—before you hit 'send.'
Click here to learn about an old rule of resume writing that no longer applies
So take advantage of the fact that you've got a little more space to play with, and make sure your resume doesn't look like an unbroken wall of tiny grey type.
Use bullets and formatting to create some white space and give relief to a tired manager's eyes.
Use nuggets or short sentences instead of paragraphs.
Limit your font choices to help impose some order.
Click here to learn how to tailor your resume for machine readers
At many companies, your resume has to be read by a computer before it'll ever be read by a human.
And computers aren't particularly good at making out fancy graphics treatments, banners, wingbats, or other attempts at illustrations. Some resume scanners will even reject your resume outright if it's too elaborate. So stick to 10 to 12 point type in easy-to-read, straightforward fonts.
Similarly, many companies use software to scan resumes for certain keywords, so make sure you include them. You'll find those keywords in the job description itself, so make sure your resume echoes at least some of the language in the job description. Competitors' job descriptions can also also be a good source of keywords.
Click here to learn what happens when you put your personality front and center
It's only human for you to want your resume to rise to the top of the heap. But force of personality, unfortunately, isn't going to help it get there. It's got to happen based on your accomplishments. So including tidbits like these, as hiring managers reported in a recent CareerBuilder survey, is strictly forbidden:
One candidate listed "moonwalking" under special skills
One candidate shipped a lemon with his resume, along with a note stating that "I am not a lemon."
A husband-and-wife team looking to job-share submitted a co-written poem
A candidate noted on her resume that she had survived a bite from a deadly aquatic animal
Click here to learn why even volunteer activities can knock you out of contention
The last part of your resume—the one that might say 'special skills,' 'interests,' or 'other'--is a minefield. You volunteer for Greenpeace? That could be a problem if your prospective boss' family owns a fish cannery.
It is okay to list hobbies, as long as they are completely non-controversial and guaranteed not to provoke eye-rolling. If in doubt, skip it altogether.
Likewise, no links to your facebook page or cute videos of your two-year-old on YouTube. If you include a link to an online professional portfolio, it's got to be as well thought-out as your resume or any other piece of marketing material. And if your email address contains the phrase 'shakinmybootie,' please get a new one.
Click here to find out how a common resume-writing technique wastes recruiters' time
Is writing a separate resume tailored to each job opening a pain-in-the-neck? Yes, but an unfocused resume is a pain in the neck for the hiring manager. You don't want that person reading through your resume thinking, "Okay, but what job are they trying to get? What are they good at?"
Remember, hiring managers are looking for a specific person to fill a specific job at a specific time—not a generally qualified professional who could be useful to them someday.
Does your resume look too much like your predecessor's? Here's why that's a problem
Overuse of words like "responsible for" and "managed" can be death to a resume. You don't want to say that you're a sales rep responsible for the Northeastern United States. Anyone can do that, and they can be stellar at it or lousy at it. You want to say you increased sales in your territory by 20 percent and improved customer retention by 26 percent.
No matter what type of job you have, your resume should focus on your achievement, not your responsibilities. That generally means you need numbers. That can be sales generated, accounts opened, employees hired, projects that were on-time and under-budget, or any number of other things. As long as you can—and do—measure them.
Click here to learn which resume mistake even high-level people still make
If you're lucky enough to become a serious candidate, almost all hiring managers will try to verify the facts on your resume. If you manage to get an offer, many employers will hire an outside company to do a background check. At that point, there is no way even the most enthusiastic hiring manager will be able to defend you if something suspicious comes to light. The best and easiest way to avoid these headaches: Tell the truth in the first place.
