If you have the right resume writing approach you can land on the right Job.

Many people say, that “the resume doesn’t perform the job but people perform the job“. Yes, we agree with this statement. But that doesn’t mean that we should not focus on resume writing.

A resume is the first impression of any job applicant. If you are looking for New opportunities either as a fresh graduate or an experienced professional, your resume is the first glance of your skills and abilities submitted to a recruiter or an HR professional.

Recruiter or HR professionals are the first point of contact for any hiring in most of the companies, if your resume qualify in the first round then it will pass on to the Hiring Manager or End User.

If you are using the wrong resume writing approach it’s very obvious that your chances of getting an appropriate job become limited or you will keep on struggling and may face rejections which will be quite demotivating for your career.

Every resume is different as every job applicant has to prove himself that why your set of skills makes you suitable for the position you are applying for at that moment. Resume writing is the same as profiling or branding a company, a resume is a marketing tool for an individual to present itself in the first place to any company or organisation.

20 Resume writing Mistakes

Here are some resume writing mistakes which one should avoid while doing resume writing, which will help in making a perfect resume.

1. Using the same resume for every application.
Most of the candidates are using the same resume for each application. Never use the same resume for each job application as every company is different and their requirements and style of working are different. Firstly analyse properly about the job then make necessary changes as per the requirement.

2. Too long or too short a Resume.
Using a long resume of more than 3 pages doesn’t suit the resume receiver, and if your resume is too short that you can’t display the required skill in it for a particular job then its a concern.

3. Failing to demonstrate & quantify duties and responsibilities.
If you cannot jot down the duties and responsibilities properly while resume writing then you will lose the purpose of resume writing.

4. Typos & grammatical errors.
Avoid Typos and grammatical errors while resume writing, as it gives an impact on the recruiter that either your language skills are weak or you are not serious about the application.

5. Poor summary or no summary.
If your resume is missing the summary or you have written a bad summary then it adds a negative point in your resume, as the first page of the resume plays a vital role while screening the CV by a recruiter. The summary should be very precise and target-job oriented.

6. Poor and Non-ATS friendly designs.
In this modern world sometimes your resume may not even reach to a real person, as many company companies are using Automated Tracking System (ATS) which automatically extracts information from hundreds of resume at a time and deliver to the recruiter in an excel format or user-friendly formats. If you have a poor or non-ATS friendly design of your CV then your information may not reach a recruiter or a real person who is hiring.

7. Inaccurate and/or inconsistent information.
Inaccurate information in resume will never help you in cracking the first phase of your resume screening. If anyone is unaware or inconsistent about his own information then how he/she can handle sensible or confidential information at the job.

8. Unprofessional email address.
Some candidates are using email ids like ([email protected]….com, [email protected]….com) it doesn’t look good for professional use. Always use your official names in your e-mail address.

9. Incorrect, unreadable, or distracting fonts.
Fonts and format play an important role in resume writing, never use an incorrect, unreadable, or distract fonts. Always use one font over the whole resume.

10. Missing Keyword.

If the keyword is missing in your resume then your resume will not rank in recruiters search. Keywords are the core strength of your resume these days. If you are uploading your resume to a job board or share directly with a recruitment agency always use the right keyword which is related to your industry or job profile. As the numbers of resumes are large and the recruiters search their database with the help of keywords, if the correct keyword is not available in your resume it will not show in search run in their database.

11. Using repetitive wording or making information.
If you are using repetitive words in your resume which shows that you have a shortage of vocabulary or if you are just trying to a make point which is not required to define your profile then just get rid of it.

12. Using unnecessary images, charts, tables, etc.
Images, charts, tables, etc. are good for making a profile but not in every time, avoid using Images or charts while resume writing if it doesn’t add value to your resume.

13. Putting your education on top of the resume.
There certain criteria and format which have to be followed while resume writing, one should always follow the protocol and put your education column where it’s supposed to be stationed. If you are putting your education on the top its a mistake.

14. Failing to explain a career change.
If you fail to explain your career change it may put a negative impact on your resume. Sometimes, people tend to mention false information in order to fill or justify a gap between the jobs or too many change of jobs in short period. Bottomline is never try to cheat the recruiter; Hiring managers are smart enough to detect these anomalies during the interview. Stick to the facts whether good or bad, mention what can be verified if asked.

15. Including obvious skills.
If you are including obvious skills in a resume just for filling the page or exaggerating the resume, in reality, that is not required recruiters are looking for the skills that are related to the job.

16. Not including your LinkedIn profile link.
These days more than 95% of recruiters are on LinkedIn and they love watching your LinkedIn profile available on your resume.

17. Bolding incorrect information.
Never put a piece of incorrect information on your resume. Information you are putting while writing a resume is supposed to be authentic and correct, many instances have been seen that employees have been expelled from jobs even after joining the organisation. This act is considered to be very unethical and unprofessional.

18. Copying job descriptions from online sources.
Recruiters are interested in knowing about the candidate in particular so always write your job description which clearly shows your job responsibilities in your previous organisation. Recruiters are going through a lot of resumes in a day and they will catch immediately if it’s copied from an online source that leaves a bad impression.

19. Never put personal information that is not requested and required for the job.
There is no such requirement of sharing the personal information unless it’s required for some specific job which requires background checks, the hiring professional will request for the personal information if required, else no need to add personal information in resume writing.

20. Irrelevant Work Experience.

If you are adding irrelevant work experience to your resume it will just waste the time of the recruiter/HR and this can lead to the rejection of the resume. So never mention a work experience which is not relevant to the applied vacancy.

So, try to avoid these resume writing mistakes and increase your chances of getting hired. Many people ignore these critical points while resume writing that becomes a hindrance to their career growth.
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