The Top Four Resume Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

Despite our best efforts to write effective resumes, there are still many potential pitfalls which can sink our chances of landing a job. Fortunately, by knowing what the biggest mistakes are — meaning those which are more detrimental to your resume than others — you can avoid them and increase your chances of actually landing an interview or receiving a job offer. Here are four resume mistakes which should be avoided at all costs.

Gaps

Resume gaps are more common today than ever before. The economic downturn has left many people out of work, sometimes for just a few months but often for a year or more. Simply acting as if this space in time doesn’t exist won’t do you any good when applying for a job. Instead, you should always have something that you can prove was accomplished during this period of time. Perhaps you volunteered at a charity or took a class. Maybe you even took a sabbatical. What ever you did, you have to speak up and let the hiring manager know. They’re looking for people who remain driven, even when the economy has temporarily beaten them down.

Too Generic

A resume riddled with cliches and generic writing won’t get you very far in today’s business climate. The reason for this is very simple: it looks the exact same as the resumes of the dozens of other applicants who didn’t spend any time or energy creating the document. Instead, your resume should focus on why you’re the best person for both the company and the position. Talk about how your accomplishments in the past will help you perform the specific duties that the position requires. This will not only indicate that you’ve actually taken the time to read the job requirements, but that you’ve written the resume specifically for it. That is a little extra effort which all hiring managers can appreciate.

Poor Spelling and Grammar

Spelling and grammar mistakes are to be expected. After all, we’re only human. Fortunately, our computers have these great things called spell checkers, which allows for us to eliminate spelling errors. As for grammar, a quick read through will help for you to uncover the most blatant errors. Attention to detail is always important and is one of the more attractive qualities that companies seek out when hiring.

Evasiveness

Non specific language and outright omissions are frowned upon. Not only does this indicate that you may be hiding something from the hiring manager, but it is also a possible clue that you can’t be trusted. Nothing is worse than giving such a bad impression. By doing so, you doom your chances of ever receiving an interview request, much less actually landing a job. While employees often have their own reasons for being so evasive, some more understandable than others, remaining truthful will prevent you from wasting any of your time with a company who won’t hire you.