While Resume writing, keep in mind that it is your most valuable marketing document in your job search, which will your front face to a company’s hiring manager and the go-to reference for your career.
Writing a good resume with good resume format is more than the skills you possess, the companies you worked for, school/colleges you have attended.
Employers get a lot of resumes on daily basis, when they search for new positions in the company. Its important for the job seekers to know what companies are looking for when you create your resume and apply for a job.
Do you want to impress hiring managers? If you are writing your resume from scratch or updating an old one, follow these don’ts to secure an interview.
1. Don’t use more than two fonts
Please don’t make your resume too much stylish or colorful. Experts say, do not use more than two fonts in your resume. Arial and Times New Roman are the most common resume fonts in Resume writing.
The job seekers must take care of readability and clarity while deciding the best resume font and size. Some other good fonts for Resume writing is Calibri, Avenir, Gill Sans, Verdana, and Cambria. These fonts are all great options which will give your resume a fresher feel.
So, open your resume now and check if it has more than two fonts or not? Also, Check for Best resume Font size.
2) Don’t use more than four lines per bullet point
This is the second Resume tips to keep your resume concise, precise and to the point. Do not write big paragraphs for your career details, experience or training’s.
A hiring manager scans your resume in a few seconds. So you want to ensure it’s easy to read and digest. Big paragraphs make it heavy to read and understand. A chronological resume format is the desired format for most employers. Read more about Which Resume Format is best for you?
This ATS software is the reason, why so many qualified candidates are not getting jobs now a day? Because their resumes are not pass by this software, hence they are rejected at first round only.
4) Check spellings, grammar, proofread, and have somebody review it: If you use proper fonts, size in your resume and made it ATS compliant as well, But if you made some grammatical mistakes while Resume writing. That will give your bad impression and may ruin your job also.
The Best way to prevent this resume mistakes is, let your friend check your resume, use online spellings checker, etc. Even if you send your resume to the company for the job, better check that Job application mail two-three times before sending.
5) Don’t use jargon or cliches: Use of meaningless buzzwords in Resume writing is not the smartest way to get noticed by recruiter. According to Mary Lorenz, a corporate communication manager at CareerBuilder, the major problems with jargon is that they are overused and they’ve lost all meaning.
Read: Why you are not getting jobs? What are the reasons?
Instead, job seekers should speak in terms of accomplishments. She informs that employer wants to know that what makes the job seekers unique and how they will add value to the organization for which they are applying.
Career coach Eli Amdur says there is no need to use word email or phone in front of actual number. They know that its your phone number or mail id.
Mary Lorenz suggest that instead of writing results-driven in your resume, better write what you actually did to drive results.
Alyssa Gelbard, founder and president of Resume Strategists inform that, don’t use Superfluous words, like “responsible for” or “duties included.” These words unnecessarily complicate and hide your experience. She suggests that Instead of writing, “Responsible for training interns” better write “Train interns.”
Instead of using few words like “highly qualified” or “extensive experience”, better write about your skills, accomplishments, and credentials you bring to the role.
6) Don’t write hard and transferable skills in the past tense: Hard skills are teachable and measurable abilities, such as writing, reading, math or ability to use computer programs. Few other examples of hard skills are:
- Typing speed.
- Computer programming.
- Proficiency in a foreign language.
- Machine operation.
- A degree or certificate.
- You don’t like your Boss or colleagues.
- Current or previous company has the toxic working environment.
- Your Manager don’t like your work.
- Not getting salary increment or bonus.
As per experts, Here is few best answers for why you are leaving your previous company? Your chances of selection will increase with these standard answers:
- You are looking for better career prospects, career growth and work opportunities.
- You want a change in career direction.
- Looking for the new challenges at work with better learning.
8) Use of company phone number or email address while Resume writing: Its always better to use your personal email and contact number on your resume rather using office contact details.
9) Don’t include anything that may be used to discriminate against you: Please don’t include any personal information like your religion, marital status, height, etc. You don’t want to expose yourself to conscious and unconscious prejudice on the part of the hiring manager.
Read and get Job: How to use LinkedIn website effectively for job Search
10) Don’t use same objective statement for all types of jobs: The most effective objective is one that is altered according to the job you are applying for. So, its better to change the objective statement as per job needs.
Most importantly, don’t ramble!
It’s a SUMMARY, not a saga.
If you are not skilled at “selling” yourself on paper, hire a reputable CV/Resume writer to do it for you.
Please share this article on social media with your friends as well.
Also Enjoy Reading: