4 Things To Keep Off Your Resume

By J.T. O'Donnell

Most employers will tell you that job seekers routinely make obvious, painful errors on their resumes that cost them the job. And while there are online tools that will help you avoid making some of these mistakes, such as punctuation errors, most tools won't catch these four major blunders.

Subjective Text When you fill your resume with lavish self-praise, like "dedicated self-starter," "exceptional communication skills," and "hard-working professional," you're just stating your own opinion. This kind of language is like nails on a chalkboard to recruiters. Why? You're not stating facts. Don't tell them how you see yourself. Prove it by listing quantifiable accomplishments. Let the recruiter decide if you're actually a self-starter.

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Too Much Info

Many people assume they should list everything they have ever done at every job. It makes them feel like they're proving they've got valuable experience. Well, in reality, it detracts from your core message and strengths. Information overload to a recruiter is not a way to stand out. It's actually the fastest way to get in the 'no' pile. That's because, when they see you've listed everything, they look for every single skill they need. And, if even one skill is missing, they assume you don't have it.

The better approach is to simplify the resume to list only the key skills you want to leverage. Then you will be implying that you have a lot more to offer -- but the recruiters need to contact you to find out. Less is more. If the hiring managers like what they see, they'll contact you for a phone screen to get more details. And that's exactly what you want the resume to do: Make the phone ring!

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Weak Top-Fold

The first third of our resume is known as the "top-fold" -- it's where the eye goes when someone sees your resume for the first time. Most studies say a hiring manager's mind is made up about the candidate within six to 13 seconds of reading the resume. Which means the top-fold is determining whether you even get considered for the job. Text-intensive top-folds that aren't well-formatted and don't present key skill sets lose the reader's attention. It's that simple.

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