resume
In today’s ultra-competitive job market, crafting the perfect resume is akin to unicycling—very hard. Your resume is your first (and sometimes only) shot at making a good impression, so it’s crucial to get it right. Without further ado, let’s dive into the six resume mistakes to avoid:
Excessive Length
A common faux pas is turning your resume into a memoir. Hiring managers have about as much time to read your resume as you do to decide if you want to swipe right on a dude on a dating app who lists his job as “Consultant at Consulting.” Stick to one page if you’re early in your career, and only venture into a second if your experience justifies it.
Not tailoring it to the job
Tailoring your resume for each job application might sound as fun as a root canal, but it’s just as necessary (or even more so, because in America, you need a job in order to get the dental insurance to get the root canal). Customize your resume to match the job description, highlighting the experience and skills that make you the perfect fit. It shows you’re not just looking for any job—you’re looking for this job.
Too Many Keywords
Stuffing your resume with keywords until it reads like a spam email won’t endear you to human readers. Use keywords wisely, ensuring your resume is still coherent and engaging to the real-life humans who will (hopefully) read it after the AI does. And definitely don’t have a large chunk of white text at the bottom. Even if employers can’t read it, it’s just so...2004.
Typos
My first resume said I was attentive to detials, so listen, I get it. But please triple-check for typos. It’s the equivalent of having spinach in your teeth during a first date; it’s all anyone’s going to remember. Use spell check, read your resume backwards, have a friend review it, etc. You know what to do.
Unquantified Metrics
Saying you “significantly increased sales” is nice, but it’s like telling someone you’re “really funny” without cracking a joke (I believe you though, don’t worry). Quantify your achievements. Did you increase sales by 20%? Save your company $10,000? Grow your team by 50%? Write it down.
Too Much History
There’s no need to detail every job you’ve ever had since your high school paper route (unless you were really fast at delivering those papers). Focus on recent and relevant experience. Think of your resume as a highlight reel, not a documentary.
