70% of applications for a particular role get rejected at the time of screening of profile/resume. Most of the job seekers undermine the resume DON’Ts & always need someone to tell them where they went wrong & how to correct it.
As an executive resume writer, I am detailing below most common resume DON’Ts & ways to turn them around.
1)Too Lengthy: Lot has been spoken out there about resume length. My narrative experience tells me that 3 pages is way too long( exception to this is resumes required by local companies in the middle east requiring 3 to 4 page resumes). One page resume is great since it helps hiring manager who is hard pressed to time to evaluate a potential fit.
Solution
- Customize your resume to the position you are applying & chuck out or reduce the bullet points which are not relevant to position.
- Do not let your margins exceed 0.5 inches all around, choose Calibri font and set your point size to 10.
2) Too much Text: Heavy blocks of text which is greater than 3 lines in length is tough to read online & reader/hiring manager would prefer to skip the content altogether even if the text outlines the skills required for the said role.
Solution: Whittle down your sentence to ideally a 1 to 2 line length & use a bullet to distinguish it from the other one. Prefer to have 0.5 point between two bullet to facilitate online reading.
3) Too old: Those who have been reading resumes/hiring folks can easily tell if you resume is an outlier as far as the resume writing trends are concerned.
Solution: Consider changing/removing the following:
- Removing an objective
- Removing “references available upon request
- Including just your mobile number and not both home and mobile number
- including your LinkedIn URL in the contact info along with your email.
4) Difficult to find differentiation factor/USP(s): Do not bury your achievements/ benefits you generated/how you solved the pain points for the organisation below your list of responsibilities.
Solution: Introspect what achievements you are most proud of. Use the response with some context/background so the reader can understand your challenges, actions and results/benefits you generated.
As the founder and executive resume coach at Sushant Kumar Ventures, I offer customized executive resume and LinkedIn profile writing services for the modern day world job seeker. Sign up here for our services/free consult.
