11 mistakes in the resume that can be the reason for a candidate to lose the vacancy

The search for a job is a crucial time for many people. Therefore, it is natural to feel frustrated if we are not even called for the interview. This can happen for a number of reasons, but one of them is perhaps the most recurrent: basic errors in the resume, which may not be evident to candidates, but which are alarming to recruiters. And, of course, it would be disappointing to be rejected for small things, let alone things that can be easily corrected.

We, from awesome.club, we’ve collected some of the most common mistakes on resumes, because of which your chance of winning a job can go straight to waste. Follow!

In some countries, many companies do not consider resumes with a photo attached. This is because, later on, recruiters can be accused of selecting candidates based on appearance alone. If you decide to put a photo on your CV, it should be as neutral as possible. Photos that are too flashy, of festive or too personal moments, can cause, at the very least, confusion.

The resume should not be too long. Indeed, interviewers are not interested in candidates’ hobbies and personal interests — if they are not directly related to the applied position. The fact that a person enjoys reading, fishing, or skiing has nothing to do with his ability to perform the required tasks. In addition, certain activities can make a negative impression, such as a passion for extreme sports, which can be seen as something dangerous.

So I got a resume. One of the big ones. I started reading and got excited. On the second page, I was impressed with the candidate’s experience. I got to the third page, and my jaw dropped to the floor: top to bottom, it was filled with selfies of the guy. I don’t understand why so many pictures. As a result, he was not hired. © Claudia Georgiana / Quora

Many people are afraid to include break periods on their resumes, thinking that it might provoke a backlash. In fact, these “white spots” are noticed by experienced recruiters with ease. If there are several applicants for the same vacancy, the one with an incomplete CV may end up being rejected.

Many people list different responsibilities, which were imposed on them in previous jobs, in order to impress the future boss. However, certain information will not be as valuable if it is not accompanied by concrete results that the candidate has actually achieved in his career. You may have stayed up all night on previous jobs, but that won’t necessarily be grounds for hiring.

When advertising a new job, employers often list all the qualities and skills they would like to see in a candidate. Therefore, you should not rush and send the same resume to all potential companies. It’s best to read the requirements carefully, the details of the employer, to understand what kind of professional they are looking for. This will help you choose the best design for your CV and what information it should contain.

Each profession has its abbreviations, which can refer to certain actions, objects, processes. Of course, you can include them in your resume, but it’s best to leave them in parentheses. Otherwise, the document can be incomprehensible and still convey the idea that a certain candidate is trying to impress. But what really makes a better impression is demonstrating achieved goals, even more than knowledge about a given subject.

I once received a very amusing resume, in which the number of abbreviations exceeded all imaginable limits. The text consisted almost exclusively of abbreviations and the verbs that linked them. It went something like this: “I studied at UFRD, took courses at CZD, FGE and IDI”. Reading this document reminded me of scenes in spy movies where an expert tries to decipher a cryptogram. After 15 minutes I gave up.

Sometimes people don’t pay attention to the format in which they send their resumes. If the document doesn’t open on the first try or requires the recipient to download some program, this email will likely be dropped. In exceptional cases, the company representative may request that a new document be sent. The best choice are doc files.

I needed to hire staff for a new hotel. I published the ad, left my data and waited. There were many resumes received, but one candidate managed to brighten my day: at 1 am, he sent me a photo of his CV and, for some reason, his passport. I was able to open the resume on my cell phone, but I couldn’t read any information. I tried for 10 minutes, then got annoyed, gave up, deleted the file and blocked the number.

Certain candidates get excited about creating the graphic design of the resume: use different fonts, choose vibrant colors. Such documents, in fact, stand out, but analyzing them can also be a challenge. Finding the desired information becomes more complicated and, thus, the recruiter may end up discarding the CV. The document needs to contain simple, straightforward graphics, but the crucial point is to present the information as easily and clearly as possible.

I once received an extremely artistic resume. Apparently, the young man had just discovered the richness and variety of sources. I say this because he must have used a dozen different fonts in the same document. We had a good laugh before rejecting it. 🇧🇷 El Klecanda / Quora

The introduction of a CV should answer the central question: why does the candidate deserve the vacancy? Ideally, it should be no more than a paragraph, in which the person will include career highlights, skills learned and goals achieved. Recruiters tend to skim resumes too quickly. Therefore, dense and extensive documents, difficult to understand, can get lost among so many other candidates.

Every employer likes to see that the potential employee is accountable for the position at hand. Therefore, when a file arrives in the e-mail with the words “My new resume #2”, it can cause not only laughter, but a slight feeling of disappointment. The name of the document must contain the full name of the candidate, as well as the desired position. Moreover, this way, it will be easier to identify the files saved especially for a certain company.

Keywords are of particular importance if a person intends to send their resume to a large company or even a large recruitment agency. The fact is that in such organizations, often the primary processing of files is done by special programs, not by people. A computer sorts the documents based on keywords, among other factors. If they are there, the CV will move on to the next step. Otherwise, it will be discarded.

In your opinion, what is the most difficult step when looking for a job: writing a good resume or passing the interview? Comment!