Your resume is often your first impression when it comes to the job search. Unfortunately, employers spend an average of 6 seconds reviewing it, which means that you have a limited amount of time to catch their interest…or completely turn them off. Here are 7 issues that will very likely cause employers to throw your resume out instead of giving you the chance you deserve.
1. Your resume has typos.
Spelling is rough, but when you’re applying for jobs, you have to think carefully about how you’re coming across as a candidate. If your resume is riddled with typos, it’s a direct signal that you don’t pay close attention to your work — especially during a time when it counts, like the job search.
We recommend reading your resume over multiple times– even reading it out loud to yourself–then sending it to a friend or a family member to review. Trust us, the extra care you put in will pay off when an employer reaches out to schedule an interview.
2. Your resume is multiple pages long.
Like the 500 page textbook in your government class, no one is going to read this. Efficiency and succinctness are of high value in the workplace, so you can show this off by being concise in your resume — keep it short and sweet, explaining everything you’ve accomplished in one page.
3. Your resume includes company-specific or school-specific jargon.
You started the XYRMK club on campus? That’s impressive…but what is it? Employers should never be confused when looking over your resume, especially when it comes to the items that set you apart from other candidates. Make sure that everything from acronyms to jargon is well-explained so that employers can focus on your incredible experience instead of trying to decode it; one line or bullet point should do the trick!
4. Lots of responsibilities, no results.
Employers love that you handled a lot of different tasks in previous internships or in student groups on campus- it shows that you were trusted and viewed as someone who could handle high priority demands. However, anyone can be given a lot of responsibilities – the differentiator is the people who go above and beyond, turning ordinary tasks into impressive results. Whether you helped to increase your fraternity or sorority’s membership or brought in hundreds of signups by marketing a brand on your campus, those are the results that should be listed on your resume so that employers have an idea of what you can do for their company. We suggest listing results in percentage form.
5. You included an all-too-personal personal email.
Your primary contact info reads iluvcatz4eva@gmail.com? Hard pass.
If employers can’t take you seriously, they won’t hire you – it’s as simple as that. Be sure to create a new personal email with your first and last name to play it safe. You can also use your .edu email address.
6. Your resume is poorly formatted.
Your section headers are all over the place – left aligned, centered, right aligned. Your experience section looks like a novel with heavy blocks of texts, and with all the different fonts and font sizes, your resume looks like an experiment gone horribly wrong.
Go back through your resume and make sure that the layout is consistent: from your experience to your skills & interests. Use ONE, standard font (like Arial or Times New Roman…avoid fonts like Comic Sans at all costs). Always, always include bullet points when explaining your job responsibilities and accomplishments – no more than 3 or 4 for each job is typically a good rule of thumb.
7. Your GPA is below a 3.0.
You should absolutely be proud of the work and the grades you’ve gotten in college — it’s an incredibly tough and challenging environment. Unfortunately, hiring companies don’t know you or your backstory: For many employers, a GPA below a 3.0 is a reason to move on to the next resume without reading any of your awesome accomplishments.
The solution? You’re better off not listing it so that the employer can focus on your many other accomplishments. (But if an employer specifically asks – be honest!)
Remember, when an employer comes across your resume, you want them to realize that you’re detail-oriented and diligent, ambitious and accomplished, so if you found any of these mistakes in your resume, it’s time to go back to the drawing board to make some edits.
