Ten Resume Mistakes to Avoid

Your CV is the first thing you can use to impress the HR manager of the company you are eager to work for, and you usually have nothing but several seconds to grab his or her attention and make want to read more and invite you for a personal interview. It is essential that this important piece of communication is well organized, so that you can use it as the springboard for your job search, no matter how competitive the field is.

Insufficient contact details
Before sending your CV make sure it contains your current contact information, your name and address, as well as your phone number and email address. Though it seems to be obvious, but a few candidates will still send the CV with outdated information or without address and phone number. In case your current email address reads unprofessional, or it is your work email, you better get another one to communicate with employers.
No objective
Your CV should always start with clear objective stating the position you are eager to get, and short skills statement that are supporting your qualification for the role you want to get in the field. Here you can briefly enumerate your experience and previous positions you obtained. Remember that your CV has to show what you can do for your potential employer, and not vice versa.
Passive language
As long as CV is a written communication, language is extremely important when writing it. Don’t forget to use active verbs like ‘managed’, ‘pioneered’, ‘achieved’, ‘created’, ‘motivated’, which will show your leadership and accomplishments better than passive verbs. Substitute all uncertain passive constructions with statements of your accomplishments to show you as a professional that did lots of things for your previous company.
Writing in the first person
You better not start the sentences in your resume with ‘I’ or personal pronouns, better substitute them with strong action words at the beginning of the sentences, and make sentences short and dynamic.
Lack of focus
Every CV has to be suitable for the field you are targeting and the position you are aimed at. If you are applying for two different industries, you should better make two different CV that show the skills needed for particular jobs you want to get. The best resume is the one customized for the job applying for, where all the skills and objectives are emphasized. Those resumes that are not customized are not comfortable to read, and HRs usually ignore them.
Poor formatting
In case your CV is a mess, showing bad planning, poor formatting and organization, it will not attract any attention. Use the simple, yet professional format that is easy to read, avoid winding prose and colored paper, pictures and glitz, and be consistent with fonts and layout. Even if you are applying for a creative position, show your creativity in portfolio, and not by glow in your CV. Make sure it’s no longer than one page, or two maximum if you are a great professional.
No proofreading
Your resume will surely be dismissed when it contains spelling mistakes, glaring mistakes and poor grammar. Make sure you read and re-read your CV several times in order to polish it and make it look professional before you send it out.
Omission of key facts
Your education and professional experience have to be included in your CV with all the dates, names, places and descriptions. Use active verbs to show your accomplishments on each job you used to work on, and make sure you state them in Skills section of the CV. In case you don’t know what keywords to use, look through the qualification requirements for similar jobs in other companies and see which skill are needed.
Lies
Your lies and half-truths will be revealed sooner or later, and you better avoid them from the very beginning. In case you have no university degree, make sure you state that in your CV and include all coursework and accomplishments you do have instead. Similarly, don’t lie about promotions and positions on the previous working places, as long as these things are easy to check. Thus, you will not even get invited to the interview when they check your references and previous jobs.
Poor targeting
Make sure you send your CV to the right person in the company you want to work in, and accompany your CV with the short descriptive letter where you state your skills and value you can bring to the company. Make research about the company, look who’s in charge of hiring new workers and what skills are needed for the jobs offered.
After you have polished your CV and fixed all the mistakes you could have made in it, you can start your job search. Best job offers in the USA can be found on Localmart.com.