Resume Mistakes that should be avoided

Resume screening is the first step of any recruitment process. An attractive resume grabs the attention of the recruiters, it creates a healthy first impression of any candidate and depicts his skills and accomplishments in a coherent manner. An applicant needs to make sure that his/ her resume is error free. Here are some common mistakes in a resume that you must avoid

● Misspellings and Grammatical errors: Attention should be a basic prerequisite while making a resume. Generally, misspellings and grammatical errors portray carelessness on the part of candidate in detailing. Apps such as Grammarly can be used to scan such type of errors.

● Reverse Chronological order: Recent experiences and education should be given priority. Pen down your latest educational qualification our your most recent job role first. This makes it easy to look at all the relevant details without wasting much time.

● Formatting: Resume should be in proper format. You can highlight your accomplishments and skills and put them first in a summarized manner. Mention your experience with exact dates and name of the companies. Don’t be too gaudy. Nowadays, Applicant Tracking System is used in companies to sort qualified resumes from the pool of applicants. If resumes are not in an ATS friendly format then even the qualified ones are displaced by the system. Resume building tools like “Resumod” enables you to find such proper predetermined formats.

● Language used: Use of Active voice is deemed to be appealing in a resume. Passive voice should be strictly avoided.

For Example, Passive Voice: “The Geet Foundation was founded by me”.

Active Voice: “Founder of the Geet Foundation”.

● Incomplete contact information: Complete contact information of a candidate is mandatory in a resume to enable the recruiter to reach him easily. Information must include the candidate’s complete name, phone number, address, and email Id. If available, LinkedIn address should also be mentioned in the resume.

● Vague with dates: Be very specific with the dates of the job/internship. Usually, companies tend to go for a background check. Any discrepancy of the facts if spotted, can cost the candidate, his job.

● Overrated and cliché words: Mentioning words such as ‘hard worker’, ‘creative’ should not be overused in the resume. It is obvious that the candidate is hard working and, in case he is not, he will definitely not show this to the hiring company. Therefore, use of such words should be avoided.

A top-notch resume serves as a benchmark in the selection procedure. One must stick to simplicity, avoid being too fancy and present their resumes with complete information. Also, submitting them in PDF format is preferable, as PDF’s are platform independent.

Making use of resume building tools like Resumod and other available tools enables applicants to get a precise and formal resume, without employing much of their time and efforts.