How Often Does Your Resume Fumble at the One Yard Line?
September is International Update Your Resume Month, so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about some of the ways your resume might be hurting your chance to score a touchdown! According to businessnewsdaily.com, approximately 70% of employers say that there are certain resume deal-breakers that would cause them to reject a candidate before they've even finished reading the application.
Even if you’re not currently looking for a new role, I urge you to open up your resume file right now and put it through a quality control test. Trust me, you will be SO glad you did it whenever your dream opportunity comes along and you want to submit your resume quickly. Competition is going to be a little higher than normal for a while, so you have to give yourself every advantage possible.
So, are you ready to hear about how your resume might be fumbling on the one yard line? Let’s get into it.
Reason #1 - You Use Too Many Buzzwords
You might think that including words like “dynamic” and “results-focused” will impress the hiring manager, but they’ve seen it all and to them, these are really just empty, meaningless words. Instead, show them how valuable you are by implementing the STAR method. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result and it’s the perfect formula to talk about past projects in a specific way that really communicates how big of an asset you are.
For example, you might say, “Identified an opportunity to add a new API to the website which resulted in a 22% increase in productivity the first quarter it was implemented.” Buzzwords can’t show how talented you are… but numbers can.
Reason #2 - You Are Being Way Too Vague
Hiring managers receive an average of 250 resumes for each job posting, so you really need to give them the information they’re looking for and fast. So many people assume that they’ll have an opportunity to go into more detail during the interview, but most don’t get to that point so it’s important to be super specific in the resume.
For example, instead of saying, “Managed a small design team to perform necessary daily tasks” you might say something like, “Hired, trained, and supervised five graphic designers to develop 300+ graphic design projects per year for the marketing team.”
Reason #3 - You Included an Objective Statement
I would guess that about 80% of the resumes we see still have objective statements and it’s usually the first thing we scrap when we get our hands on it. Why? Objective statements are outdated and they don’t really tell the recruiter or hiring manager anything.
Rather than just telling them what you want, show them what you are qualified to do for them with a professional summary. In 2-3 sentences, paint a picture about your strengths in the workplace and what fuels you to reach your full potential.
Reason #4 - You Missed Little Mistakes
Most of the time, a typo isn’t that big of a deal. We all understand that mistakes happen. However, on a resume it can be a giant red flag. It shows that you might not have the attention to detail required for the position, or it could just communicate that you don’t really care enough about the opportunity to double-check your resume for these small issues.
At the very least, you need to review your resume EACH time you submit it for any typos, formatting errors, outdated contact information, and repetitive words or phrases. Remove your headshot from the resume (unless you’re applying for an acting or modeling job) and make sure your email address is professional. It takes five minutes, so there’s really no excuse!
Do you think your resume makes it past the goal line or do you need to go back to the locker room and make some adjustments? If you need a coach, my team of incredibly talented writers can put together a resume package that will help you score the winning touchdown!
We’ve worked with clients who have gone on to land roles at some of the most coveted Fortune 500 companies out there like Microsoft, Amazon, and Chase Bank, and we can’t wait to help you, too! Click here to set up a FREE resume phone consult and we’ll let you know what we think you need to blow the competition away.