A resume is your pathway to your dream job! And there are certain tricks to help your resume stand out from the other 1000s of applicants. These are the things on the basis of which you get shortlisted from thousands of candidates and finally get selected. The resume if shortlisted at least gives you the opportunity to talk to your dream job and here on it’s on your shoulders!
A resume is the first thing that your possible future employers get to know about you and a minor error on this can cost you your entire career. We have made a list of the possible errors so that you can avoid it by all means:
1) Photographs
A resume must be crisp, concise and relevant. Adding your own personal photograph is useless when it comes to applying for a corporate job. Your face doesn’t matter, your work does. Until and unless it is a modelling, photography or designing job where you need to make separate portfolios of your work, adding a photograph is a strict no.
2) Opinions
You must avoid including personal views or opinions about any issue or topic on your resume. Stick to the point, talk about what the employer is looking for and stop right there. For example – Talking about any political views is not required.
3) Grades/Scores
This depends on your educational qualifications and history. If you have a brilliant score or any academic achievements related to the same, make sure you mention it. However, if it’s vice versa, it’s advisable to avoid it unless it is rigorously inquired about the employer.
4) Fancy fonts
A resume works best if it’s kept simple and on point. Human resource managers who analyze your resumes and take your interviews dislike fonts that irritate the eye or are too informal and fancy. Keep a standard font size with a formal font like Times new roman to create a professional impression.
5) Irrelevant experience
Before applying for any job, do your research and see what the job requires. Don’t mention any irrelevant past work experience just to fill up pages on your resume. For example – If you are applying for a job of an accountant and mentioning experience in teaching history on your resume does not make any sense.
6) Funky email address
A mandatory detail in your resume for further communication and is your email ID. Well, who knew an email address can also backfire! If you have any crazy and weird teenage email addresses, it is time to change and create a new one before applying for a job. An example of email addresses that don’t go down well with employers is [email protected]
7) Reasons for past failures or resignations
Usually, you mention any past relevant work experience in your resume to boost your chances of getting selected. However, one might get tempted to defend the decision of resigning from their past job and end up mentioning the reason for the same on the resume. This is not appreciated and leaves a negative impression amongst the employers.
8) Big and fancy words
While talking about your experience, educational background or any other details, avoid using difficult and fancy words. Instead of impressing your interviewers, it tends to waste their time and confuse them, so concentrate on being clear and understandable rather than complicated and fancy. Words like workaholic, synergy, etc should not be used.
9) Social media links
Your social media life or your social media popularity is of zero interests to your employers. Do not add links to your Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat accounts until and unless asked to. Moreover, the maximum you can do is add a link to your LinkedIn account.
10) Too much information
Like mentioned earlier, your resume is not a CV. It is supposed to be quick to read, easy to understand and must be kept short and simple. Hence stick to mentioning your good qualities, relevant points and avoid too many bullet points. Avoid giving any personal information like religion or caste.
