You’re a week away from our New Tech Virtual Job Fair and if you’re thinking of switching to a new great career, now is the time!
To prep you for the job fair, and help in your career search, this week’s newsletter topic for you is: 9 resume fails that will kill your chances of getting hired. Good tips for any future employee to remember.
1. Bad formatting
If you have no design experience, and you’re trying to format in Word but you’re failing align left and align right, give it up already. Formatting is important, so shell out for the $20 resume template on Etsy that’s perfectly formatted to your liking.
2. Fugly Font
Times New NO-man. Ditch the outdated fonts and bring your resume look and feel into 2017. Why is this important? Sure, choosing fonts might have nothing to do with your technical experience, but if you claim your skills and work style are innovative, shouldn’t your resume—the crucial document that explains those things—be too? Feel free to refer to advice in #1.
3. Super Old Jobs
Hit delete on work experience older than 10 years. Keep it if it’s exceptionally crucial to your story, but try to remember the 10 year rule at all costs. This also means internships and entry level jobs could be taking up precious resume space. Time.com/money also suggests getting rid of your graduation dates. If your page is crowded and hard to read, consider what can go!
4. Be Boring
This Forbes article lists a series of phrases that are sure to bore a potential employer. Some include: “Meets or exceeds expectations” (#cringe) and “Motivated self-starter” (#basic). It explains that resumes should show a little life and color so potential employers can get to know the real you.
5. Typos & Grammar Errors
Isn’t this self explanatory? Review. Review again. Have someone else review. Have a different someone else review, preferably with copy editing experience. Review again. Seriously.
6. An Outdated Objective
Traditional objectives are out, progressive career summaries are in. It’s kind of like your Instagram description, but a tad more formal, and geared toward your business experiences. Maintain personality. Keep it short. Get more tips from the uptowork blog.
7. Make It More Than Two Pages
This is sure to crush, kill, murder your chances. Boston Globe agrees. No one wants to read five pages of resume. There’s a good chance a potential employer might toss it at first sight. We don’t recommend being that guy.
8. College Deets
Kick the college clubs and GPA out of the door. This is taking up extra space on your resume and ultimately, isn’t what your future employer is looking for. Forbes even says recent graduates are the only ones who should keep education info at the top of the page. Say goodbye to yesteryear!
9. Video Resumes
Done right, your video resume can show how you’re a culture fit, how experienced you are and how you’d be an asset to your potential employer. Done wrong, your video will show how you’re funny, but maybe not the best option out there for this particular gig.
It’s 2020—time to get real about resumes.
