Monday, October 31, 2011

Personal PR

The resume is one of the most referenced and utilized items during networking and job searching. It is a nice recap of accomplishments, skills, education and previous experience so that potential employers have something to reference. The last thing anyone wants is to have is a grammatical error, misspelling or a formatting inconsistency that stands in the way of getting a job or an interview. So from PR Daily, I found an extremely helpful article on 12 dangerous resume mistakes.

1. Goofy or inappropriate email address 
This one is really self-explanatory. Leave behind the email address you made when you were ten years old and move on to a more professional one. If the email address is not professional then there is a potential the employer will not take you seriously as a job candidate.

2. Including an objective statement 
Applying to a job is more about the company seeing what you can do for them and what you have to offer not knowing what you want. 

3. Not “theming” your document with keywords 
Don't use words over and over again. Keywords are a huge deal in resumes! A common first stage to interviews is a computer scan for job keywords and if the resume doesn't have them then it is the end of the road for the job possibility.

4. Forgetting skill sets 
Skills sets are extremely important especially with keywords added! As you can see, keywords are becoming a trend.

5. Placing awards and top achievements at the end of the document 
Keep awards and achievements in a separate section and not with the job(s) and the description(s). 

6. Lumping multiple jobs at one employer into one position 
If there have been multiple positions with the same employer make them distinct and separate from one another as they were able to give different experiences and skill enhancers.

7. Stretching your employment dates 

If you started on 11/2007 and left in 2/2008, that does not mean you can put “2007 - 2008” on your résumé. That’s called lying. Never lie. Always include the month and date because the possible employer will find out one way of another. 

8. Upgrading your job title 
Make sure the job titles are the most recent and properly reflect the job duties. 

9. Including employer address, phone, supervisor name, and email 
How eager are you to “prove” that you’re legit? Employers have this thing called the Internet to research your previous companies. Don’t look insecure by listing everything. This actually calls the wrong kind of attention to your employment history. 

10. Listing your job duties 
Listing the job duties isn't enough. Every job has them, but what employers want to see is what you did to see through the duties; giving the resume value and substance.

11. Getting employers to “assume” things about education 
Either you got the degree, are in the process, or took program coursework..Don't let them think you completed the degree when you actually only took a few courses on the subject matter. This is also constituted as stretching the truth and lying/

12. Not keeping up to date 
Careers are constantly changing and making improvements to positions to keep up with the times. If a resume has experiences from 1999 it may not be as relevant since it is out dated and may no longer apply to what the job entails. Also, companies are always looking for subject matter experts and constantly looking for employees to go to development classes, workshops and conferences related to professional growth and experience.   


These are common mistakes made by everyone. This is why having workshops and practice with writing resumes and cover letters is very important for future success. 

1 comment:

  1. All of these are great ideas. Professor Lambdin in The Dicke College talked a lot about resumes and how to make them stand out from the big pile you are competing with. These are definitely a good list to look at.

    ReplyDelete