5 Common Resume Mistakes - Are You Making Them?
I don't have to tell you how tough the employment situation is.
Hanging on to a job in this economy is hard enough...
finding a new one is exponentially more difficult.
And here's the kicker: you ain't seen nothin' yet.
The unemployment rate isn't through climbing.
(Those Fantasyland models of an unemployment rate in decline by summer 2009 look even more ridiculous now than when they were first pronounced.
) Bottom line...
now more than ever, your resume needs to work hard for you.
If you're going to have any shot at an interview, you cannot afford to make any mistakes with it.
There are no second chances.
Avoid these common errors and you'll give yourself an automatic advantage: 1) Fail to Start Strong Your resume could be one of hundreds.
All those people vying for the same job...
all that paper piled high on the hiring manager's desk.
He's looking for reasons to screen resumes out.
Quickly.
Have you given him any reason to devote more than a passing glance to yours? You need to capture the reader's attention - and you've only got a few seconds to do it.
Typos, spelling errors and grammatical errors are a great way to get him to move on to the next one.
2) Lead with an Objective Statement Sam wants to secure a challenging senior marketing position with a dynamic communications company.
Okay...
let's think about this for a second.
Sam wants a job.
The hiring manager didn't need Sam's scintillating objective statement to figure that out.
Sam just wasted the first few lines of his resume - the most important real estate on the page - saying absolutely nothing.
Next.
3) Attach a Weak Cover Letter The cover isn't procedural.
It isn't some arcane piece of standard operating procedure.
If you don't know why you're writing it or what you're trying to accomplish with it, there's a great chance it isn't going to be very effective.
And if it's not, the reader won't turn the page to look at your resume.
The cover letter's job is to tee up your resume - and your candidacy.
Make it good.
4) HR versus Marketing Resumes that read like a litany of HR-generated job descriptions are the kiss of death.
Guaranteed.
This should be a marketing document...
a product brochure.
Which is yours? 5) Use a functional format Hiring managers dislike functional formats.
They're more difficult to comprehend quickly.
(Remember - "quickly" is the operative word.
Yours isn't the only document being reviewed.
) Fairly or not, there's also the very real danger that the reader will think you went with this format because you have something to hide.
Be forewarned.
You're submitting your resume to try to get an interview, right? Then give yourself a fighting chance.
Don't make the same mistakes everyone else is making.
It's a buyer's market, meaning the audience is tough - and getting tougher.
Give the hiring manager a reason to keep on reading.
Give him what he needs to make the kind of professional assessment you want him to make.
Hanging on to a job in this economy is hard enough...
finding a new one is exponentially more difficult.
And here's the kicker: you ain't seen nothin' yet.
The unemployment rate isn't through climbing.
(Those Fantasyland models of an unemployment rate in decline by summer 2009 look even more ridiculous now than when they were first pronounced.
) Bottom line...
now more than ever, your resume needs to work hard for you.
If you're going to have any shot at an interview, you cannot afford to make any mistakes with it.
There are no second chances.
Avoid these common errors and you'll give yourself an automatic advantage: 1) Fail to Start Strong Your resume could be one of hundreds.
All those people vying for the same job...
all that paper piled high on the hiring manager's desk.
He's looking for reasons to screen resumes out.
Quickly.
Have you given him any reason to devote more than a passing glance to yours? You need to capture the reader's attention - and you've only got a few seconds to do it.
Typos, spelling errors and grammatical errors are a great way to get him to move on to the next one.
2) Lead with an Objective Statement Sam wants to secure a challenging senior marketing position with a dynamic communications company.
Okay...
let's think about this for a second.
Sam wants a job.
The hiring manager didn't need Sam's scintillating objective statement to figure that out.
Sam just wasted the first few lines of his resume - the most important real estate on the page - saying absolutely nothing.
Next.
3) Attach a Weak Cover Letter The cover isn't procedural.
It isn't some arcane piece of standard operating procedure.
If you don't know why you're writing it or what you're trying to accomplish with it, there's a great chance it isn't going to be very effective.
And if it's not, the reader won't turn the page to look at your resume.
The cover letter's job is to tee up your resume - and your candidacy.
Make it good.
4) HR versus Marketing Resumes that read like a litany of HR-generated job descriptions are the kiss of death.
Guaranteed.
This should be a marketing document...
a product brochure.
Which is yours? 5) Use a functional format Hiring managers dislike functional formats.
They're more difficult to comprehend quickly.
(Remember - "quickly" is the operative word.
Yours isn't the only document being reviewed.
) Fairly or not, there's also the very real danger that the reader will think you went with this format because you have something to hide.
Be forewarned.
You're submitting your resume to try to get an interview, right? Then give yourself a fighting chance.
Don't make the same mistakes everyone else is making.
It's a buyer's market, meaning the audience is tough - and getting tougher.
Give the hiring manager a reason to keep on reading.
Give him what he needs to make the kind of professional assessment you want him to make.
