1.1. Lack of contact information
It may seem obvious, but many professionals forget to add basic data about themselves in their resume. According to some specialists, a resume cannot miss your full name, city of residence, email, and telephone. Many recruiters still highlight the importance of including access of your LinkedIn profile – an essential tool to see the candidate’s connections and work history online. If you do not include Linkedin, it could be hard to find you on a social network, especially if your name is very common, such as John Smith.
1.2. Inadequate use of “Control +C, Control + V”
Nothing is as damaging to a professional’s credibility as showing laziness when writing a resume. A clear proof of disinterest is including information that has been clearly copied and pasted in different parts of the same document. It is not rare to find resumes with identical responsibilities through the several distinct companies the candidate has worked for. These lazy repetitions demonstrate that the professional is not careful with the recruiter nor is very interested in the opportunity.
1.3. Major Spelling or Grammar Mistakes
Serious grammar errors are unforgivable – even more with the spread of technological instruments that allow text revision. The minimum expectancy is that a candidate spell-checks the document. However, it is not only informal language that disappoints, but poorly written text which could possibly be considered confusing, ambiguous or incoherent. If you experience difficulties in writing, a tip is to organize the information as a list. Elaborate on five to ten items to describe your professional careers and work attributions.
1.4. Extravagant Layout
Unless you are working in the creativity industry, it is best to write a modest and simple looking resume. The resume needs to look organized because it is a formal document. Colors, fonts, logotypes, and images can weaken the recruiter’s attention and even patience. For a professional resume, use to white paper, black ink and preferably Times New Roman font. Resumes should be simple and clean, as well as informative due of the content, not only the format.
1.5. Slogans and self-praising
Another serious problem is the – very widespread – practice of using casual adjectives such as “dedicated”, “proactive”, “agile” or “perfectionist” to describe one’s behavior. Besides not adding to the document’s content, these expressions carry no credibility. After all, self-praising is like advertisement.
1.6. Insufficient or Exaggerated size
Even a good resume can be brief, it cannot be too laconic. The main information should be present – at least to create a basic perception of who the candidate is behind the document. A one-page resume is too short, but if it extends beyond five pages it is also inadequate. The key is to find a middle ground regarding your document’s extent. The basic principle is simple: it should not be too much nor too little.