Simply spell-checking your resume isn’t enough. If you want to make an impression on a potential employer, your curriculum vitae shouldn’t read like it’s in Latin.
To help you avoid similar errors we asked some of the top HR professionals to list routine oversights. Here’s what they said:
1. Unnecessary focus on personal details
A CV is a professional document so it’s important to emphasize information that is relevant to the job. “(Candidates) tend to produce a lot of unnecessary micro-details about their family, addresses. These can easily be taken to the end of the resume,” says senior HR professional Shailesh Singh.
2. Too long resume
Your resume is going to busy professionals, so keep it short. “Candidates need to remind themselves that they need to be focused and precise (in their resumes) and give a very clear picture of themselves,” says Singh. HR expert Neelam Gill Malhotra agrees. “Let’s not have long essays—you’re not doing a PhD thesis,” she says. Clear, crisp and insightful is the way to go.
3. Factual inaccuracies
Never lie, because in all probability, you will get caught. As Malhotra says, “If you’ve only six months of a particular skill, put six months. Don’t make it 16 months.” Many employers today do background checks to verify a potential hire’s resume.
Remember, a resume is essentially a document that showcases your skills and strengths to a hiring manager. Keep the format clean and attractive. Play up your strengths and achievements.
Experts also recommend customizing your resume for different jobs instead of having a single resume floating around.
