A resume is a professional document that highlights the professional qualifications of a candidate. It consists of details of the skills, experience and education of the candidate. It is the first look a recruiter has at the abilities of the candidate and it is this document that decides if the candidate will be short listed for the interview or for the first round of recruitment, as the case may be. The better and briefer your resume is, greater is your chance of crossing the threshold and getting started with recruitment. Resume writing, therefore, has to be error free.
As to the question errors in a resume – how important are they, the answer is simple: this can make the difference between getting a job and not getting it. Here is a list of common errors committed during writing resume with suggestions on how to avoid them:
• Non Presentable Appearance: Like when the spacing between lines, words or between headings is inconsistent. This can also happen when margins are greater or lesser or not uniform, when the font size is improper or when the layout is not correct
• Improper Content in the Resume: This refers to skipping of relevant information and / or filling in irrelevant details, making spelling mistakes, using unnecessarily complicated words, not using profession specific keywords, not mentioning time periods of education, experience or skill acquisition, using unknown abbreviations and mentioning little known abbreviations. This can also happen when you use someone else’s words without understanding their meaning and the context in which they should be used
• Errors in Associated Documents like not having a cover letter or making some of the above mentioned mistakes in the cover letter etc.
A simple way to avoid these errors is to design and build the resume format yourselves. After all, no one knows you better than yourselves. You can use standard resume templates available on the internet, but don’t let them restrict your freedom. Next, do not borrow somebody else’s style and words, be original. And last but not least, keep things simple. The better the recruiter understands your resume, the greater are your chances of being recruitment.
As to the question errors in a resume – how important are they, the answer is simple: this can make the difference between getting a job and not getting it. Here is a list of common errors committed during writing resume with suggestions on how to avoid them:
• Non Presentable Appearance: Like when the spacing between lines, words or between headings is inconsistent. This can also happen when margins are greater or lesser or not uniform, when the font size is improper or when the layout is not correct
• Improper Content in the Resume: This refers to skipping of relevant information and / or filling in irrelevant details, making spelling mistakes, using unnecessarily complicated words, not using profession specific keywords, not mentioning time periods of education, experience or skill acquisition, using unknown abbreviations and mentioning little known abbreviations. This can also happen when you use someone else’s words without understanding their meaning and the context in which they should be used
• Errors in Associated Documents like not having a cover letter or making some of the above mentioned mistakes in the cover letter etc.
A simple way to avoid these errors is to design and build the resume format yourselves. After all, no one knows you better than yourselves. You can use standard resume templates available on the internet, but don’t let them restrict your freedom. Next, do not borrow somebody else’s style and words, be original. And last but not least, keep things simple. The better the recruiter understands your resume, the greater are your chances of being recruitment.
Nice one Sandy. very good article.
ReplyDeleteI think writing a resume deserves as much credit as writing a scientific work. You should be really careful, otherwise, you will make a lot of mistakes witch may cost you the chance to get the desired position
ReplyDelete