Before heading to your upcoming job interview, it is important to thoroughly proofread your resume for any grammatical errors, accuracy and overall layout. If you are making a career transition into a specific industry, your resume should reflect that change. Double-check and get a second pair of eyes to look over your resume to steer clear of these common resume blunders.
1. Making a single, generic resume. While it is a god idea to have a basic resume with your contact information and formatting, every job you apply to should be modified to meet a given companies specific needs. Make sure to highlight the skills and experience that are mentioned within the job ad. For example, if an ad wants you to have three years of sales experience, move your sales job to the top of your experience list. If it mentions that an ideal candidate has training in specific software programs, then it only makes sense to create a new section listing what software programs you have experience using.
2. Leaving out information. Often, people with a great deal of job experience tend to leave off older jobs or skills they haven’t used in a while. Instead, include as much relevant information as possible showing your wide range of skills. If the job ad wants someone with a specific number of years of experience, make sure that your previous experience timeline meets the minimum number of required years.
3. Creating a really busy resume. In the attempt to include as much information as possible, people often end up with large blocks of small type that can be hard for a potential employer to read or scan through. It’s also good idea to avoid using more than two types of font. If you just can’t figure out what to cut, at least make the first page of your resume a highlight page and include the details on a second page.
4. Listing the wrong contact information. Yes, this seems like a silly mistake, but you would be surprised how often a transposed digit in a phone number means that someone won’t get an interview. While you’re checking, make sure you include both a phone number (that you can check regularly) and a professional e-mail address. Leave off information such as your Facebook or Twitter account.
5. Cramming your resume to exactly one page. Unless the job ad specifically states the length of the resume, it isn’t worth the effort to avoid going onto a second page. In fact, many industries and positions expect a longer resume. As long as the information you include is relevant to the position you’re applying for, don’t worry if you can’t get it down to just one page.