Job seeker, sometimes it’s just a small blunder or gaffe that stands between your resume being selected for further consideration, or being tossed. Since recruiters and hiring managers play a significant role in your job search success, the onus is on you to know how to avoid these resume faux pas that irk them. Based on a survey conducted in late 2010 about Resume and Job Search Trends, the following were identified as the top resume pet peeves for recruiters and hiring managers:
- “Generic Objectives” that scream ‘me-me-me’. “It rarely helps, often hurts, and always takes up valuable real estate that could be better used to showcase your accomplishments”, said one respondent.
- Massive email blasts where the resume is not tailored to the position for which they are applying.
- Beginning each point, regardless of experience, with the standard “responsible for” with few, if any, real accomplishments.
- A resume that contains “references available upon request”.
- Lack of professionalism in the layout and composition.
- Lack of detail on duties and accomplishments.
- Dull job descriptive statements.
- Content that is unrelated to the role.
- Chronological history of events dating back to high school (especially when the applicant has been out of high school for 3 or more years).
- Resumes with more than three pages, poor formatting, and spelling and grammar errors.
Some recruiters indicated that they prefer a longer resume as it enables them to see the breadth of the person’s experience and are better able to identify the skills relevant to the position they are trying to fill. However, these same recruiters say that clients/employers prefer a 2- or 3-page resume, and they would modify them to suit the client’s needs.
“As we are placing the candidates to our clients we prefer the longer version for details but we don’t like to send that to the client, unless specifically requested.”
While you might not agree with all of the above, some are glaringly obvious and should be avoided. Have your say.
