When a company posts a new opening for the world to see, they get hundreds of applications and phone calls. This means you have a lot competition for an open position with a company.
It only takes an average of 6.25 seconds for a recruiter or hiring manager to decide if there is any interest in your resume for their opening. They are normally looking for reasons to disqualify the resume rather than calling each applicant just because of the sheer volume of resumes they have to go through.
Avoid these 5 common mistakes to make your resume standout.
- Grammar Mistakes
Have someone review your resume for these mistakes. You should always use past tense in your resume even on your current projects. Your resume shouldn’t be 10 pages long. You only need to list the companies for the past 10 years. So if you were working in the 70’s or 80’s, they are not relevant and can open you up to age discrimination.
- Describing yourself in the 3rd Person
“Kelly is an excellent developer.” Just describe your responsibilities for that company and the return on investment.
- Your Objective
You apply for a developer opening and you mention that you want to be a Project Manager.
- Using different fonts in your resume.
It is best to use Arial 11. Don’t get too creative on the resume. You want it to be clear, concise and easy to read. We all know with the different versions of word the format changes based on the version you are on. Best to save it as a PDF and forward to the company.
- Adding your personal experience to the resume.
“I am the CEO of my house managing a budget of $30k, sending payments to creditors, driving children to school safely.”
The best way to get an interview is to go on LinkedIn and see how you are connected with a hiring manager or the recruiter. Reach out to them and ask them to send your resume to the hiring manager. This adds a lot of credibility to you as a person instead of a blind submission to a job posting that you will never hear back from.
