Some things just don’t belong on a resume. Including them may cause your resume to be eliminated from consideration for a job before it has been thoroughly reviewed. You may believe you are providing the employer with several reasons to hire you, but there is such a thing as too much information when it comes to resume writing. When analyzing a batch of applications to establish a manageable group of prospects to interview, employers seek reasons to weed out applicants.
Make sure you don’t include any incorrect information, which might make the firm to believe you’re not driven or qualified for the position. Before you begin working on your CV, research how companies choose which applicants to hire. Then focus on updating your resume with material that will help you stand out to the recruiting manager.
Long Paragraphs Without Bullets
If your paragraphs are overly packed with material, employers may skip over areas of your resume and overlook important proof of your qualifications. A CV should be simple to read and understand. Nobody wants to read long explanations of everything you’ve done at every job you’ve ever had. Examine these resume experience section writing recommendations.
Spelling & Grammar Mistakes
Your resume acts as a sample of your writing abilities as well as evidence of your attention to detail. Someone will undoubtedly notice if you make a mistake, and it might be used against you. Before you utilize your resume to apply for employment, review these proofreading suggestions. Better still, have someone else proofread it for you. It might be difficult to recognize your own errors.
Generic Objective Statements
Yes, who wouldn’t want a “challenging career at a business that offers a wonderful work-life balance and the possibility for growth”? Why should an employer bother reading your resume if you can’t make the effort to tailor it to the exact position you’re looking for? Instead, create an executive summary or “Who I Am” section that highlights your overarching value proposition (or, as I like to call it, your “So what?”) and talks directly to the topics you know your target audience will be interested in. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you are a good fit.
Tiny, Unimportant Job From 15+ Years Ago
Your resume is a marketing document, not an autobiography of every job you’ve held since graduating. So, unless whatever you accomplished more than 12-15 years ago is critical for your target audience to know, you don’t need to include your entry-level employment or internship from 1994. It is quite OK to omit portions of the life history. Consider what you performed or accomplished in your previous position that will be necessary (or will be of substantial worth) in your future one. Display only that information. If your first job out of college contributes nothing to this general message? It’s probably unnecessary.
Empty or Flowery Language
Why “utilize” when you can “use?” Why “append” when “add” will suffice? It’s not “analogous;” It’s simply “similar.” Using non-conversational terms does not make you appear smart; it makes you appear as though you spend too much time in a thesaurus. Every term you employ should refer to a specific ability or achievement. Otherwise, it is only a diversion. Keep your tone basic and focused, and stick to the facts. Plus, every term and statement in your resume should be subjected to the “would I ever say this in real life?” test. If you come across words or sentiments that don’t sound like anything you’d say, what should you do? Change things up.
Jargon or Abbreviations
Write nothing that will restrict the reader’s knowledge of your talents. Unless you are assured that your resume will be seen by persons who are familiar with the terminology, always use generic descriptions. If you need to use a term over and over again and it is taking up too much space, you can always start with the word in the beginning following the abbreviation.
Current Work Email
Using your current work email address on a CV says, “I job seek on company time.” It’s bad form to conduct your job hunt over your business’s email system unless you own the firm. Use your own email address for any job-search correspondence. And, preferably, your personal time.
Personal Information
Details such as height, weight, birth date, age, sex, religion, political affiliation, or location of birth should be avoided. Employers should not rely on hiring decisions on these variables, and they may dislike that you are enticing them to do so. Keep your CV facts-focused. The only exception is when preparing a curriculum vitae for a nation where it is customary to include personal information.
Lies or Embellishments
No one likes liars. Almost anything you say on your CV can be confirmed. If you are employed and it is later revealed that you lied on your resume, you may be dismissed “for reason,” which typically implies no notice or severance compensation.
Reasons Why You Left Previous Jobs
This may appear to be you making excuses. There is no need to defend your professional choices. This information has no bearing on why you should be hired for the position for which you are applying. This will be brought up during the interview, and you will have the opportunity to discuss it. If you’re required to fill in this gap on an online portal, just write “career growth,” unless it’s a contract, in which case write “contract only.”
It might be difficult to edit a resume. People are sometimes highly connected to what they’ve done or accomplished professionally, as well as enthusiastic about their hobbies and interests outside of work. But the basic truth is that your CV must have everything going for you. Be brutally honest, trim the fat, and for God’s sake, leave out all the details about your large collection of clown figurines. Once you have your resume good to go, feel free to apply to Valor Home Services’ many open positions.
