A good resume should reflect you like a mirror. It is the first thing that’s considered when you apply for a job, an internship or in some cases, a scholarship. Your resume is an essential tool for impressing recruiters. Did you know Google alone gets over 3 million resumes per year – a lot of these are scanned by bots and only interesting ones make it to the table of a recruiter! Here are some of the worst mistakes people often make when drafting a resume.
Listing Job Duties
People often list their job duties rather than job accomplishments. Employers don’t care about what you were expected to do in your last job. They care about what you can do for them with concrete examples shared through past experience. It’s your responsibility to clearly and succinctly establish your accomplishments. You will have to showcase your creative problem-solving skills.
Spelling Mistakes
Typos and grammatical errors are a huge turn off. If you are a student, request a career counselor/advisor to review your resume. If not, get help from someone you trust. It’s human nature to scrutinize and proofread someone else’s work more than ours. You could also run it through a text to speech program. You’ll not only get to make sure that the resume reads well, but will also be able to fix any typos.
Ignoring The Job Relevance
The third big mistake is listing all your experiences without understanding if it is relevant to the position you plan to apply to. Include the most relevant things first because recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds scanning a resume before moving to the next. If you’re a computer science major and applying for a job in a software company, mention relevant programming experience at the top.
Ignoring Unpaid Experiences
It is typical of students to place too much importance on paid work. Just because you weren’t paid for an assignment, it doesn’t mean that it is irrelevant. Recruiters look for students who have volunteering experience, and are involved in extra-curricular activities.
Failing To Customize Your Resume
One size doesn’t fit all. You have only six seconds to catch your recruiter’s eye. So make sure the resume is tailored specifically for every single position you apply.
Recruiters look for qualities such as work ethics and ability to solve problems independently. You could even showcase your experiences through a website. Call us if you need help to write a resume that’s sure to impress. Our online class help tutors will be more than happy to help!
