Do you ever worry about that ever elusive interview call? That interview that never gets scheduled? You are not alone. Thousands of fresh college graduates send their resumes to atleast 5 companies daily. They enroll on job searching online portals and call their corporate cousins for reference. But that interview call seldom happens. They blame it on luck, visit astrologers and offer prayers at temples-all in vain.
The resume focuses on you and the past. The cover letter focuses on the employer and the future. Tell the hiring professional what you can do to benefit the organization in the future.
Take a careful look at the first document that reaches to the recruiter. Your resume has the power to make or break your dreams. Here we have taken an effort to point out 10 commonly found mistakes in resume that leaves the HR either in splits of laughter or frustration(depending on the no of resumes he/she skims daily). And do remember, if you ever want to get a job – please the HR!
Writing a career objective on a resume is like booking a movie ticket and telling the world that you want to watch the movie. In addition to being irritating its obvious! Until you are applying for a job which is radically different from your last job or you are changing industry, refrain from wasting valuable space.
Nothing is more annoying than an email id that spreads negativity. Funky email ids like theblackscorpion, cooldude78 are only acceptable till college. At a professional level, HR Managers prefer grownup and mature individuals who can maintain their poise in the work environment. To cut the long story short, BE PROFESSIONAL.
How we all love sweet & dinky fonts! But a resume is a professional document that is the first thing that reaches the recruiting manager even before us. Edgy fonts make us look rebellious & carefree. So its best to keep the fonts neutral and boring until you are applying for a position that requires a high degree of creativity and funk.
In this fast paced life, everyone seems to run short of time. A recruiting manager may have to scan through hundreds of resumes on a busy day. So a short resume that is loaded with all the information is what a HR expects. Ideally freshers are advised to keep it to maximum of 2 pages and for every 10 years of experience, you add one page to it. Pretty easy. Huh?
Demonstrate work experience or skills that can do justice to the post you are applying for. Unnecessarily providing info that are not useful to the job position can only do you more harm than good. In an effort to make your CV look invincible, you are unknowingly killing your chances to be short-listed.
Few other mistakes can kill your chances as much as this. A resume with grammatical and typographic errors shows lack of interest in the job and acts as a direct insult to the company you are applying for and to the person who is evaluating your resume. SO make sure to check and double-check for errors. Take help if required.
Don't use personal pronoun 'I' as the resume is all about you and all that you have achieved in your career. It's an unnecessary addition and is widely unacceptable in the HR circles. Therefore make sure you don't drop an 'I' or two. Furthermore don't populate the resume with a lot of personal info like separate address for present and permanent. The maximum correspondence they would do is either send an email or call you.
Keep the small talk for the interview. Your hobby is most probably never going to add much value to the organisation you will work for. They are mostly things one does for personal pleasure and need not take up a space(however short) in your resume. As most people end up writing hobbies like "listening to music","surfing the internet", "watching TV", etc it only adds to the rejection list of the recruiting manager.
7 out 10 people mention achievements and skills that are very outdated. How often do we see people bragging about the science exhibition that they got selected during school, or won a prize for dance competition in school. Its very likely that you dont remember a step about dance or science experiments. So keep it in your memory and out of your resume!
Who would otherwise write fake things on a resume? Wasting 3 lines trying to convince the HR that your information is true is a real no-brainer. Just end the resume with a signature and date. It takes a bit of time but the next time you sit down scratching your head about the choicest adjectives to impress recruiters, keep this in mind – "Less is More".