May 18, 2015 at 19:1838 points that you must exclude from your resume right now
Creating a resume is a headache for anyone looking for work. A resume is your story that you tell the recruiter or potential employer. Agree that studying the plot with unnecessary details or a lot of mistakes will not be very pleasant. We will tell you about the time to throw out of your story.
To begin with, you should not abuse standard words (responsible, stress-resistant, etc.), and also use too creative design, which in some cases can do more harm than good. Very often, a large number of details creep into the resume that annoy, and sometimes even repel, recruiters. In order to receive invitations for more interviews, go over your resume and make sure that none of these 38 points are there.
1. Career goals
Do not clog your resume with boring template sentences, such as: "I want to work in your company and develop in this direction." It’s best to explain as clearly as possible why you are interested in a particular position.
2. Excessive visualization
A large number of visual elements can complicate the analysis of your resume, therefore, the decision-making process. You can add your photo, but leave the various graphics and drawings for designers (they need it in the resume).
3. A large amount of monotonous text
Recruiters usually look through resumes quite quickly (in a minute at best and in 5 seconds at worst), so your goal is to make it as readable as possible. Avoid large text blocks, it is better to use separately marked lists (the so-called bullet points).
4. Second page
If you have less than 5 years of experience, and a resume takes more than one page, then this definitely will not add points to your piggy bank. Even if the resume does not fit on one page, competent formatting can fix this.
5. A variety of fonts
Try to use one or two (as a last resort). If there are more, they will distract or even annoy HR managers.
6. The phrase “Recommendations are available on request”
In the worst case, you will look too arrogant, at best - you could use this space to describe your skills and experience in more detail.
7. Transfer of skills instead of experience
In most cases, it is recommended to adhere to the reverse chronology format (that is, when your most recent experience is described at the very beginning). However, if you think that your last experience is not worth emphasizing (maybe it is not so relevant) or, for example, you have to return to work after a long break, it is better to start your resume with the section “General Information” (“Executive Summary”) . In this section you can highlight your best skills and achievements that are relevant to the position you are applying for. But then you still need to paint your experience.
8. Your address
Think anyone interested in this? If you are applying for a position, you understand where you will have to go (walk / fly) in case of receiving a position and automatically agree to this.
9. Your work e-mail.
Do you seriously want your future employer to know that you use your work time and the computer of the company in which you are currently working to find work?
10. Your “creative” e-mail
If you have been using the same email address for 10 years and you created it as a child, it is possible that the address will look like: princess12 @ ... com or mrhalk13 @ ... ru . If this is the case, you urgently need to start a new box, otherwise the potential employer may misunderstand you.
11. Your specific hobbies
If you are fond of playing squash or are engaged in semi-professional photography, you can leave it on your resume (and only if you apply for a starting position and you do not have enough experience to fill out a resume). However, if you are fond of tailoring dolls from old clothes or picking up planes from matches (which happens), then in no case do not write about it, as some of these hobbies may seem too stupid.
12. Date of your birth, marital status and religion
We live in the 21st century, the century of tolerance and equality. Any self-respecting employer will not ask you about these three factors (at least until the first meeting), so why write about this in your resume?
13. The nature of the tasks you completed
In most cases, recruiters are not interested in what you did day after day (for example, answered phone calls and emails), they are only interested in the result (for example, if you overfulfilled the sales plan by 72%).
14. Irrelevant experience
If you have absolutely no experience and there is absolutely nothing to fill out a resume with, then indicate that you have worked at McDonald's for 6 months (and what happens) at all.
15. Unpaid internship.
Who cares if your internship was paid or not? If you have gained excellent experience - indicate this, and it is the end.
16. Everything related to the school
If you are not a freshman / sophomore, it does not make sense to indicate your school achievements in the resume. Better try to figure out how to make your student experience (organizing and participating in various events, etc.) more attractive.
17. Skills that are owned (or at least should be) all
For example, the ability to work in MS Word or the skills to find information on the Internet.
18. Undisclosed words
Why write “utilized” when you can write “used”, especially when you consider that the second is more accurate and simpler? Go over the text of the resume and ask yourself the question: “Do I use all these phrases in everyday life?” If the answer is no, replace these words with simpler and more accessible ones. Important: this paragraph does not apply to professional terminology.
19. Professional slang
Despite the fact that professional terminology is allowed and even sometimes necessary, slang should not be used. Make sure that everything in the resume is clear to the HR manager, otherwise the likelihood that your resume will not go beyond it will increase significantly.
20. Words that have a negative connotation
Including cases when you use them as positive ones (for example: “I solved these problems and fixed the errors by ...”). Studies show that words such as “problem”, “error”, “failure” in the text of your resume can negatively affect how the recruiter perceives it.
21. Any words and phrases from the following list that annoy almost all recruiters (and not only). The list begins with “Best of Its Kind” and continues as follows:
22. Proactive.
23. Thinking outside the box
24. Capable of close interaction
25. A person you can rely on
26. Leader
27. Beneficial
28. Results-oriented
29. Team player
30. Pragmatic
31. Hardworking
32. Strategist
33. Dynamic
34. Motivated
35. Conscientious
36. Proactive
37. Typos
Do not rely on automatic grammar checking in MS Word alone. Ask friends or acquaintances to take a look at your resume (and perhaps give advice on how to fix it).
38. Falsehood
With a few exceptions, you should not tell a lie. Any false skills that you indicate in your resume can be tested either during the interview or in the first two weeks of your probationary period. Sometimes the desire to learn means more to the employer than experience.
So, let's move on to the resume and the mistakes you make.
To begin with, you should not abuse standard words (responsible, stress-resistant, etc.), and also use too creative design, which in some cases can do more harm than good. Very often, a large number of details creep into the resume that annoy, and sometimes even repel, recruiters. In order to receive invitations for more interviews, go over your resume and make sure that none of these 38 points are there.
Structure / Formatting
1. Career goals
Do not clog your resume with boring template sentences, such as: "I want to work in your company and develop in this direction." It’s best to explain as clearly as possible why you are interested in a particular position.
2. Excessive visualization
A large number of visual elements can complicate the analysis of your resume, therefore, the decision-making process. You can add your photo, but leave the various graphics and drawings for designers (they need it in the resume).
3. A large amount of monotonous text
Recruiters usually look through resumes quite quickly (in a minute at best and in 5 seconds at worst), so your goal is to make it as readable as possible. Avoid large text blocks, it is better to use separately marked lists (the so-called bullet points).
4. Second page
If you have less than 5 years of experience, and a resume takes more than one page, then this definitely will not add points to your piggy bank. Even if the resume does not fit on one page, competent formatting can fix this.
5. A variety of fonts
Try to use one or two (as a last resort). If there are more, they will distract or even annoy HR managers.
6. The phrase “Recommendations are available on request”
In the worst case, you will look too arrogant, at best - you could use this space to describe your skills and experience in more detail.
7. Transfer of skills instead of experience
In most cases, it is recommended to adhere to the reverse chronology format (that is, when your most recent experience is described at the very beginning). However, if you think that your last experience is not worth emphasizing (maybe it is not so relevant) or, for example, you have to return to work after a long break, it is better to start your resume with the section “General Information” (“Executive Summary”) . In this section you can highlight your best skills and achievements that are relevant to the position you are applying for. But then you still need to paint your experience.
Personal data
8. Your address
Think anyone interested in this? If you are applying for a position, you understand where you will have to go (walk / fly) in case of receiving a position and automatically agree to this.
9. Your work e-mail.
Do you seriously want your future employer to know that you use your work time and the computer of the company in which you are currently working to find work?
10. Your “creative” e-mail
If you have been using the same email address for 10 years and you created it as a child, it is possible that the address will look like: princess12 @ ... com or mrhalk13 @ ... ru . If this is the case, you urgently need to start a new box, otherwise the potential employer may misunderstand you.
11. Your specific hobbies
If you are fond of playing squash or are engaged in semi-professional photography, you can leave it on your resume (and only if you apply for a starting position and you do not have enough experience to fill out a resume). However, if you are fond of tailoring dolls from old clothes or picking up planes from matches (which happens), then in no case do not write about it, as some of these hobbies may seem too stupid.
12. Date of your birth, marital status and religion
We live in the 21st century, the century of tolerance and equality. Any self-respecting employer will not ask you about these three factors (at least until the first meeting), so why write about this in your resume?
Work experience and education
13. The nature of the tasks you completed
In most cases, recruiters are not interested in what you did day after day (for example, answered phone calls and emails), they are only interested in the result (for example, if you overfulfilled the sales plan by 72%).
14. Irrelevant experience
If you have absolutely no experience and there is absolutely nothing to fill out a resume with, then indicate that you have worked at McDonald's for 6 months (and what happens) at all.
15. Unpaid internship.
Who cares if your internship was paid or not? If you have gained excellent experience - indicate this, and it is the end.
16. Everything related to the school
If you are not a freshman / sophomore, it does not make sense to indicate your school achievements in the resume. Better try to figure out how to make your student experience (organizing and participating in various events, etc.) more attractive.
17. Skills that are owned (or at least should be) all
For example, the ability to work in MS Word or the skills to find information on the Internet.
Specific words
18. Undisclosed words
Why write “utilized” when you can write “used”, especially when you consider that the second is more accurate and simpler? Go over the text of the resume and ask yourself the question: “Do I use all these phrases in everyday life?” If the answer is no, replace these words with simpler and more accessible ones. Important: this paragraph does not apply to professional terminology.
19. Professional slang
Despite the fact that professional terminology is allowed and even sometimes necessary, slang should not be used. Make sure that everything in the resume is clear to the HR manager, otherwise the likelihood that your resume will not go beyond it will increase significantly.
20. Words that have a negative connotation
Including cases when you use them as positive ones (for example: “I solved these problems and fixed the errors by ...”). Studies show that words such as “problem”, “error”, “failure” in the text of your resume can negatively affect how the recruiter perceives it.
21. Any words and phrases from the following list that annoy almost all recruiters (and not only). The list begins with “Best of Its Kind” and continues as follows:
22. Proactive.
23. Thinking outside the box
24. Capable of close interaction
25. A person you can rely on
26. Leader
27. Beneficial
28. Results-oriented
29. Team player
30. Pragmatic
31. Hardworking
32. Strategist
33. Dynamic
34. Motivated
35. Conscientious
36. Proactive
And one more thing:
37. Typos
Do not rely on automatic grammar checking in MS Word alone. Ask friends or acquaintances to take a look at your resume (and perhaps give advice on how to fix it).
38. Falsehood
With a few exceptions, you should not tell a lie. Any false skills that you indicate in your resume can be tested either during the interview or in the first two weeks of your probationary period. Sometimes the desire to learn means more to the employer than experience.