Let’s say you apply
for a job for which you are well qualified: you meet all the requirements, your
experience is a perfect match and you have great references to back you up.
Did you know there’s a
chance the employer will never find out about you? It’s true – some applications
hit the reject pile following the briefest of scans. Here are some easy-to-fix
things that can knock you out of the running:
A messy-looking resume
No employer is looking
for a sloppy employee, so make sure your resume doesn’t say that about you! Use
a clean-looking, simple template (just type “resume template” in a search
engine to get started). If your computer skills aren’t strong, make sure you
get some help!
A disorganized resume
Make sure the most
important information is near the top and visible. Use standard headings and
make sure your content fits the heading. You don’t want your key qualifications
to be overlooked because they’re in the wrong place.
Proofreading errors
Depending on who is
reviewing resumes, a simple typo can get your entry thrown out. Why? Because attention
to detail is a quality that employers look for, and you have just shown that
you don’t have it. Your best bet is to take a close look at everything when you
think you’re done, and then have someone else look it over too. Even if your
word processor catches basic spelling errors, they won’t catch everything –
look for inaccurate word choices, missing words and information that is
obviously incorrect (often resulting from copy/paste actions that were left unfinished).
Failure to follow directions
This is another quality
that is valued by an employer, and if you can’t follow the instructions given
in a job posting properly, why would they possibly think you’ll be any
different on the job? Read the posting or website instructions carefully and
give them what they’re looking for!
For a quick look at these and other mistakes, check out these examples of bad resume elements.
