Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes

Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes

There are a lot of mistakes people make when writing résumés. Some are forgivable and some not. But instead of talking about all the mistakes, let’s just discuss the seven worst résumé mistakes.

What Is a Résumé’s Purpose?

We’ve talked about this before also. A résumé has only one purpose—to get you an interview. But you’ll be competing against dozens, even hundreds of other résumés, so yours will need to shine. There are a lot of things you can do to make your résumé stand out in a good way, but below I’ve listed some things not to do. Together they constitute the seven worst résumé mistakes.

Listing of the Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes

The first is the most crucial because without it, your résumé will be dull and uninteresting, and it will likely be trashed before it is fully read.

1. Too many responsibilities and not enough accomplishments. Don’t tell potential employers what you’ve been responsible for; tell them what you’ve accomplished.
   • I have written blogs about this before, and those blogs go into a lot more detail. You should read them.
2. Omission of the months worked on each date of employment. Include all jobs worked and the months of employment as well as the years.
   • This is another one that got a separate blog. And it’s a lot more important than many people realize.
3. Improper capitalization. Do you capitalize titles? When? How about degrees earned? Which ones?
   • This is another one I’ve written a previous blog about. It is also a recommended read, as far too many people don’t know the correct things to capitalize, and for the résumé screeners, improper captialization makes for difficulty reading.
4. Misuse of words. I’m not talking about spelling mistakes; I’m talking about using the wrong words. The worst offender is “lead” and “led”, which I address in my book No Mistakes Resumes. Too many people use “lead”, the present tense, instead of “led” the past tense. Since they are both words, it’s one of those mistakes that spellcheckers won’t catch, so you’ll need a good proofreader to catch it.
5. Misuse of compound modifiers. If you search my site, you’ll find a few blogs about this one also. Compound modifiers are upsetting to most people, but they are to some. It earned it’s way on this list because of the number of errors we see, not their offensive nature.
6. Objectives. Don’t use them. Period.
7. Summaries. I’ve discussed summaries in several posts, and while some people think they’re almost mandatory, the fact remains that a summary is simply your summation of your work history. Why should the HR person believe you? They won’t until they get to know you.

Summary of the Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes

If you look at these errors separately—aside from numbers one and two—they don’t seem so bad, but that may be because you aren’t screening a hundred résumés a day.

When you are tasked with going through so many résumés, you start out knowing that the pile of 100 résumés you’re staring at will be reduced to four or five by the time you’re done. With that attitude fixed in your mind, you begin screening, and as you go along, each error gives you more reason to toss it into the trash pile. The solution is easy.

Don’t Give the Screener Any Reason to Trash Your Résumé

Not giving them any reason means make your résumé as close to perfect as possible. So make sure you don’t commit any of the seven worst résumé mistakes listed above, but also make sure you don’t slip up on other areas also.

There are many other mistakes people make on résumés, but these are the seven worst résumé mistakes.

Bottom Line

I did not include “lie” because a “lie” is not a mistake; it’s done on purpose. I also did not include “spelling mistakes” because they are too easy to catch. Also, “lies” and “spelling mistakes” should never be on your résumé.

Sign up for the mailing list to continue to get advice on résumés, interviews, and more. And if you need the full course on résumés, get the book.

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes nonfiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series as well as books about grammar, publishing., and children’s fiction and nonfiction.

When Giacomo isn’t writing, he’s helping his wife take care of the animals on their sanctuary. At last count, they had forty animals—seven dogs, one horse, six cats, and twenty-five pigs.

Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who used to take walks with Giacomo every day.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with forty-five loving “friends.”