10 Mistakes Youre Making on Your Resume

10 Mistakes Youre Making on Your Resume10 Mistakes Youre Making on Your ResumeChances are good that youre making a few of these common mistakes on your resume. How many are you guilty of?1. Relying on outdated sources of advice. Resume conventions have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. If youre reading a book that insists you use an objective on your resume or that you cant exceed one page, chances are good that youre reading something outdated (or listening to someone who hasnt hired recently).See The Death of the One-Page Resume?2. Including every job youve ever had, no matter how irrelevant or long ago. A resume isnt meant to be an exhaustive accounting of every job youve ever held. Its a marketing document designed to present you in the strongest, most compelling light. That means you dont need to include every job youve ever had, or the part-time work you did on top of your regular job last year, or even your degree in an irrelevant field if you dont want to. You get to decide what you do and dont include. The only rule is that you cant make things up.3. Listing only job duties, rather than accomplishments. Resumes that really stand out go beyond what your job description was and instead answer this question What did you accomplish in this job that someone else might notlage have?4. Including subjective descriptions. Your resume is for experience and accomplishments only. Its not the place for subjective traits, like great leadership skills or creative innovator. Hiring managers generally ignore anything subjective that an applicant writes about herself, because so many peoples self-assessments are wildly inaccurate theyre looking for facts.5. Leaving out volunteer work. Sometimes during the course of an interview, I discover someone has highly relevant experience they didnt include on their resume because it was volunteer work and they thought it didnt count. It counts Your accomplishments are your accomplishments, even if you did the work pro bo no rather than for pay.See 9 Tips to Make Your Resume Stand Out.6. Including inappropriate information. Information about your spouse or children, your height or weight, or your salary history doesnt belong on your resume. (And yes, people really do include these things.)7. Getting creative at the expense of clarity. If youre thinking of trying something creative with your resume, like unusual colors or a non-traditional design, make aya your desire to stand out isnt getting in the way of the whole point of resume design. Heres what most hiring managers want from a resume a concise, easy-to-scan list of what youve accomplished, organized chronologically by position, plus any particularly notable skills, all presented in a format that they can quickly scan and get the highlights. Thats it. Creativity, while a nice trait, doesnt trump those requirements, so make sure whatever format you use works in those ways.8. Having tiny inconsistencies. If you want to come across as someone who t akes care in your work and is attentive to detail, pay attention to the small things Do you have periods after some bullet points but not after others? Do you use consistent verb tenses throughout? Do you randomly start using a different font or type size? These things seem nitpicky, but even small inconsistencies can jump out to an attentive reader.9. Sending your resume without a cover letter. If youre applying for jobs without including a compelling cover letter- customized to the specific opportunity- youre missing out on one of the most effective ways to grab an employers attention. A cover letter is your opportunity to make a compelling case for yourself as a candidate, totally aside from whats in your resume.See 5 Job-Hunting Ideas You Havent Tried.10. Believing every piece of resume advice anyone gives you. Yes, it may sound funny coming from me, but the reality is that you can give your resume to 10 different people who are all qualified to give resume advice, and youll get 10 different sets of recommendations Use this font, use that font, dont go over one page, two pages are fine, objectives are required, objectives are silly- it can be enough to drive you crazy.The reality is, there are few hard and nahe daran sein universal rules aside from the obvious (no typos, no illegible fonts, no 10-page rambles, no inappropriate sharing of your personal life). But there are trends- conventions that are gaining majority support. For instance, most hiring managers agree that functional resumes are frustrating and possibly hiding something. And two-page resumes have become completely acceptable these days. But even these trends arent flat-out rules. The best you can do is to get a feel for the types of things people care about and why and make choices that make sense for you and the job you want.