6 Resume-Writing Don’ts
Hiring managers are busy. Your resume should make their job easier — not harder.
For a resume that helps you stand out from the crowd in a good way, steer clear of these don’ts.
0. Don’t Have Typos
This is №0 because it should be too obvious even to mention. Unfortunately, career services pros say this is the most common mistake they see in resumes. Even spell check misses the distinction between “to” and “two.” Typos are unprofessional and show a lack of care in your work. Make sure to proofread your resume.
Need a second pair of eyes? Have your resume reviewed by a career counselor in your college career services office or at the Vick Center for Career Counseling.
1. Don’t use the file name “Resume.pdf”
DO NOT save the file with the file name “Resume.pdf.” Generic file names are difficult for hiring managers to sort and find — particularly if several applicants have used them. Save your application documents with your name in the file name: Last_First_Resume.pdf
2. Don’t Have Messy Formatting
Don’t make a potential employer work hard to understand your information. A resume should be clear, organized and consistent.
“If you say you are skilled in Microsoft Office, then your resume should demonstrate your knowledge,” says LaRae Tronstad, a career coach with the College of Liberal Arts Career Services Center. Avoid big blocks of text and too many fonts. Use bullets, short sentences and consistent heading styles to organize your information.
If you are emailing or uploading your resume, save it as a PDF. That will preserve your carefully planned fonts, spacing and margins.
3. Don’t Use Passive Language
Your resume is not the place to be shy. Be direct and strong in your writing. Action verbs stand out to someone scanning your resume, so lead with these stronger phrases. Use past tense unless the experience is current or ongoing. When describing your current position, use present tense and avoid passive verbs ending in “-ing.”
Before: “Worked on managing customer complaints”
Better: “Managed customer complaints about products”
Check out some helpful examples of how to use action verbs at The College of Liberal Arts Career Services Center.
4. Don’t Miss the Chance to Quantify Your Experience
Numbers can quickly convey the significance of your accomplishments. This may be easier for experiences that involve money, rankings or statistics. But no matter what kind of work you do, add data to your resume to quantify your experience. Don’t miss the chance to show your employer how often, how many times and on what scale you achieved your goals.
Before: “Edited the school newspaper, The Daily Texan.”
Better: “Edited 10 news articles per week while consistently meeting deadlines for The Daily Texan, a student-produced campus newspaper with a daily circulation of more than 12,000.”
5. Don’t Undersell Your Experience
Don’t have a ton of job experience? That’s no reason to assume you have nothing to put on your resume. Experience doesn’t necessarily mean paid employment. Include internships, traineeships, apprenticeships, self-employment, part-time work, miscellaneous informal services and volunteer performances.
“The key is to focus on transferable skills,” says Tronstad. “If you are applying to a company with a fast-paced environment requiring multitasking, then your experience waiting tables engages multitasking and managing competing demands.”
6. Don’t Use the Same Resume for Every Job
Don’t make one resume that includes all the work experience you’ve ever had and use it to apply for every job. Instead, tweak your resume to fit the position.
When choosing which experiences to include on your resume, think about the skills and abilities that would be of most interest to the potential employer. Ask yourself, would I speak about this experience during an interview? If yes, include it.
Originally published at news.utexas.edu on January 27, 2016.
