Alpha Bits

Information, insights and advice regarding today’s IT and pharmaceutical recruitment landscape. 

5 Resume Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid!

When you’re looking for a new job through an employment agency in NJ or on your own, having a high-quality resume is a must. When your application has mistakes, that’s usually a red flag to employers and could cause your resume to end up tossed in the discard pile.

In many cases, common resume missteps are very easy to avoid. If you want to make sure they don’t make an appearance in your application, here are five resume mistakes to fix now.

1. Typos and Grammar Errors

While resumes do break a few grammar rules, like not requiring full sentences, you still want to make sure your spelling and grammar are otherwise impeccable. Even if an error is small, it makes it seem like you lack attention to detail or that you didn’t care about the quality of your application, both of which work against you.

Plus, some mistakes could alter the messaging. If you accidentally leave the wrong word in place, your resume might say something other than what you intended, and that could also cause trouble.

Often, you can spot most errors quickly. Use spell and grammar checking tools as a starting point. You should also review each line of your resume and may want to ask a trusted family member or friend to do so as well. That way, you can correct any mistakes before you send your resume out of the door.

2. Vagueness

In a resume, a lack of detail means you aren’t providing the hiring manager with context about your capabilities. You want to go further than stating the obvious, ensuring the hiring manager has a clear understanding of your achievements.

If possible, also quantify the details. Numbers stand out on a resume visually, and they give the hiring manager more information about your accomplishments, making them wise additions.

3. Only Discussing Job Duties

While the resumes of yesteryear largely featured lists of your job duties in each role, that’s no longer the favored approach. Instead, you need to be achievement-oriented, using your accomplishments to highlight your skills and capabilities. That way, the hiring manager understands how you put your skills to work to reach goals, which they’ll find more valuable.

4. Lackluster Professional Summary

Your professional summary is front and center. If it doesn’t catch the hiring manager’s attention, there’s a decent chance they won’t keep reading.

Ideally, you want to make sure your professional summary packs a punch. Reference an achievement, including key skills, and quantify a detail or two, ensuring what you share is compelling.

5. Wrong Length

While there aren’t any official rules regarding resume length, that doesn’t mean you can’t get it wrong. Trying to squeeze a career’s worth of information on a single page usually means cutting important details, so that’s best avoided. However, if you carry on for three or more pages, you’ve likely gone too far, as most hiring managers won’t take the time to read it.

For most professionals, a two-page resume is appropriate. It gives you enough room without being drawn out. The only exceptions tend to be those who are first entering the workforce, where a one-page resume may be fine, and certain upper or executive-level positions, where three pages might be a necessity.

If you’d like to learn more or are looking for a job and want to connect with a leading employment agency in NJ, Alpha Consulting wants to hear from you. Contact us today.