You have the right skills and experience and now you are eager to move ahead with your career. But, if your resume fails to convince your prospective employer, you will have a hard time getting a new job. Resumes need to be used as a personal marketing tool. You need to focus on its style as well as contents. Prioritizing your accomplishments in the right order is very crucial.
Here are the issues which could hurt your resume and make it look ‘unprofessional’.
- Formatting – If your resume ends at the middle of the page or above, leaving more than half of blank page creates wrong impression on employer’s mind. He/she may infer that this candidate does not have much to say about his education or experience. This doesn't mean you have to stuff your resume with fluff. Describe more about what you have done, what you know, and how you can contribute to this job. Fill that white space with meaningful information that can set you apart.
- Fonts – Your prospective employer should notice the actual text or words in your resume and not the font! No Comic Sans font for resumes. Do not use colors, curly-cue fonts, and clip art. Keep your total font styles—including different points/sizes, bold text, and italics—limited to four.
- Keep personal life out of your resume - Try to keep references to your children, marital status, age, lifestyle, and religion out of your resume. If you have worked for any religious organization etc., let only its name talk about it. Don’t add additional details on your own.
- Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes - All grammatical errors and spelling mistakes are a problem in a resume, but some may cause a proportionally higher level of damage than others.
- Negative statements – Watch out for negative tone of the resume and edit it immediately. For example, statements like “I was not happy with my last job profile” sound negative. Instead, you can write “I learned a lot during my last job and now ready to move on”.
- Sending unprofessional photo - If a photo isn't specifically asked for in the job application process, don’t send one. If it is asked for, make sure that it portrays you as professional and personable. Send a photo where you are dressed nicely and smiling. Use your judgment.
- Sending blank email with resume attachment – In your email, you should type a simple greeting, explanation of who you are and what you are sending. Sending blank email is not at all professional.
- Sending resume to multiple employers in the same email – If you do this, your email will most likely get deleted!
Avoiding these mistakes is as easy as stepping back for a minute, proofreading, and engaging your common sense.
Invest enough time in writing your resume and when you are ready to apply for a job, register on TheGongzuo.com for free. Top IT companies are eager to hire professional employees. They will call you for an interview only if your resume reveals your professionalism!
