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5 Common Resume Mistakes to Avoid

By Jason Stroming

We’ve all had to do it at some point in our lives: sit down and write our résumé. To some people, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. For others, it’s the hardest, scariest thing to have to face. Neither one of those points of view is correct. A résumé is not hard to do, nor should it be a scary prospect. But it’s also not always easy.

The one thing to keep in mind when writing your résumé is that it should represent you. That means that anything on there, good or bad, is the first impression that any potential employer will have of you. Most people who write their own résumé make very common mistakes. Some of these are obvious, others are not so clear. But I’m going to list a few of the most common mistakes people make that you should avoid, to make sure that your résumé doesn’t take a quick trip to the Recycle Bin.

• Poor Spelling or Grammar: In this day and age, with very useful spell checkers (which also check for grammar), you’d think that résumés would be error free. But there are 2 things to consider here. One is that while spell checkers are great, they’re not perfect. Certain words will slip by, so it’s up to you to proofread (or better yet, get someone else to proofread) your work. Secondly, the spell check is useless if you don’t run it! So I advise that you first run your spell checker, and then have someone else proofread your resume. If there are spelling and grammatical errors on your résumé, you already have one strike against you, before the hiring manager has even considered calling you.

• Bad Formatting or Fonts: Another major mistake people have is in formatting their résumé, and using inappropriate fonts. A résumé is a visual conveyance. If it’s hard on the eyes, it will turn people off. Make sure your alignments are all correct and neat. Sometimes people think that a fancy font will get them noticed. And they’re right; it will get them noticed, but usually for the wrong reasons. Bad fonts can look unprofessional, be completely unreadable, or both. Stick to using a very simple font, like Arial, for your résumé. It’s easy to read on paper or on a computer screen (where most résumés are viewed these days).

• Inappropriate E-Mail Address: This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Try to use an e-mail address that looks professional, such as john_doe. Avoid using e-mail addresses such as “toughguy01” or “fsexxxymama06.” They’re very unprofessional, and it’s easy to get the wrong impression from names such as this. There are many free, web-based e-mail services out there now, so if you don’t have one, be sure to create a professional e-mail address to use on your résumé before you start sending it out.

• A Vague Objective: This may not seem too harmful, but it’s definitely something to avoid. Most people put an objective on their résumé that goes something like this: “To obtain a position that will allow me to use my relevant skills and experience.” This is a useless objective. It’s simply stating the obvious, and it doesn’t say anything at all about you that’s of any value. It’s vague, cliché, and a waste of résumé space. Now look at this objective: “To obtain a position in a large CPA firm that will allow me to use my relevant skills in auditing and public accounting.” Still very simple, but much more specific. Reading that, you know exactly what this person wants and what they have to offer. Make sure your objective tells the reader something about what you’re looking for, and what you bring to the table.

• Consistency: This applies to a few different aspects of the résumé. For example, if you have one job duty at a specific job in the past tense, then all job duties at that job should be in the past tense, and vice versa (“Managed” vs. “Manage”). This could also be considered a formatting issue, but make sure if your job title is in bold, all of them should be in bold. If the company name should be italicized, make sure all of them are in italics. Again, a résumé is a visual thing, and little things like this will stand out to the reader, and may put them off.

Writing your own résumé is not always easy, but if you do decide to tackle it, keep these mistakes in mind, and make sure you’ve avoided them on your résumé. There’s no such thing as the perfect résumé, but by avoiding these mistakes, you’ll be a lot closer to it.

Jason Stroming is a Career Coach and résumé writer, as well as a Life Coach specializing in relationships, personal development, and creativity. To learn more about Jason and his company, Advanced Career Resources, please visit http://www.acrnyc.com/career/index.html, or ACR Personal Life Coaching at http://www.acrnyc.com

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