It is very true that a resume has the power to either break or make your career. An unflawed and professional resume not only makes you stand out from the crowd but notably increases your chances of getting hired by the recruiter. You must come up with an excellent resume since the hiring managers have to go through a multitude of applications and make sure that the best candidates are selected. They have no interest in reviewing erratic and unprofessional resume format that is full of grammatical and typographical errors and lack proper formatting.

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Having an informative and good resume is more important than the qualifications you have in hand. In order to avoid getting screened out by the recruiter, it is quite important to create a perfect resume with a stable and consistent style. Always ensure that your resume has an even format and avoid using fancy fonts as they look very unprofessional. Most importantly, a good resume is succinct, unambiguous and easily comprehensible. Furthermore, a well prepared and sophisticated resume will indubitably grab the attention of any hiring manager. The various points discussed in this article will significantly increase your chances of getting selected for your dream job. Keep these tips in mind to avoid resume mistakes when creating a professional resume.

Essential Tips To Avoid Resume Mistakes

A.    Look For Linguistic Errors

1. A resume full of linguistic errors is of no use to any hiring manager and will immediately discard you from the list of potential candidates. Linguistic errors such as incorrect usage of punctuation marks, verb tenses, hyphens, apostrophes and misspellings give an unprofessional appearance to your resume and make you seem unqualified for the position you have applied for. Grammatical and typographical errors in your resume will make you less likely to get selected by the recruiter.
2. There are a variety of ways to proofread your resume and get rid of linguistic errors. You can check your resume for misspellings by placing a finger on each word and reading it aloud, or you can take a printout of your resume and ask your acquaintances to proofread it for you as they may find certain errors that you are unable to locate. Another efficient way to get rid of linguistic errors from your resume is to make effective use of online resources, such as Grammarly and proofread it for any grammatical and typographical errors.
3. Moreover, you must employ a preplanned writing strategy to ensure that your resume stands out and that there no sentence-level errors. A resume void of linguistic errors is quite eye-catching and can never miss the attention of any recruiter. Therefore, your chances of getting employed will indeed go up many fold if you keep your resume free from linguistic errors.

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B.    Avoid Uneven Formatting 

1. A good resume format can make the interviewer analyze your skills and accomplishments in the right way. Consistent formatting is one of the major features of any professional resume. A regular and even format in a resume is a sign of professionalism whereas a resume with an uneven and inconsistent format is very likely to get rejected by any hiring manager. Consistency is very important in formatting for achieving desired results. Adapt to the best resume format which is stable in order to keep the reader captivated.
2. For example, if you want to highlight your duties and accomplishments using bullet points in one position, you must make use of bullet points for the rest of the positions too. Best resume format ensures that the format of the bullet points does not vary and remains the same throughout the resume. All the sections should have the same type of bullet points. Most essentially, keep the bullet points short and to the point as it makes your resume very appealing and easy to read.
3. You can enhance readability by shifting section headings to the left while the locations and dates should be on the right. The font type and size must not differ as it will make the resume look odd and uninteresting to read. Therefore, the style and font should not change at all, and their uniformity must be maintained in all parts of the resume. The resume you make should be elegant and simple at the same time. Your chances of getting employed for a specific job or position will undoubtedly increase if your resume is uniform and well formatted.

C.    Customise Your Resume The RIGHT WAY 

1. A resume with a weak and unappealing customisation can cost you an interview. Different job openings require different types of resume. The very first step for customising your resume is to choose the resume type which suits you best. You can take your pick from a targeted, combination, functional, or a chronological resume. The hiring manager should be able to comprehend your resume without any difficulty, and for this, you must avoid using illegible fonts. Utilize legible and prevalent fonts like Times New Roman, Calibri and many more.
2. Additionally, the size of the font should be somewhere between 10 and 12 so that it does not look unusual. Make use of standard margins and avoid using heavy blocks of text. In case you are preparing a physical resume, the paper should not be coloured as it looks quite unprofessional to the hiring manager. If you belong to a creative industry, you can bedeck your resume with a plethora of accompaniments like infographics, videos et cetera. Always make sure that your resume is updated along with your work history and skill set so that it does not look obsolete. You must quantify your accomplishments in the right way in order to get noticed by the hiring manager. In addition to that, the skills that you mention should not be unrelated to the job you are applying for since they will not help you secure employment.
3. You can update your resume and give it a makeover to make it more observable to the hiring manager. You can make use of resume examples and templates as they can assist you in formatting your resume better and they also exhibit the several skills you possess. Moreover, you should only share significant accomplishments in your resume and avoid incorporating trivial information since it can possibly lead to dismissal. Furthermore, you must customise your resume from time to time depending on the type of job and position you are applying for since it is worth the effort and will definitely improve your chances of getting hired by the recruiter. A good resume can increase your chance of selection instantly.

D.    Do Not Add Irrelevant Information 

1. You will promptly get rejected by the hiring manager if you don’t follow the best resume format and your resume has a ton of irrelevant information which is not related to the position or job you have applied for. A resume should always be concise, clear and void of irrelevant information. Extraneous and futile information should be removed, and your resume should only revolve around data regarding the attributes and skills that make you eligible for the job. You do not have to write about all the jobs that you have done throughout your life if they are not related to the applied job or position. The work experience that you mention in your resume should not be older than 10 to 15 years.
2. You must avoid adding a resume objective that has nothing to do with the target job as it can make your selection less probable. If you still want to include a resume objective, you must go for a profile instead but make sure that it accentuates your interest in the job or position you are applying for. If your key skills do not seem to correspond well with the job requirements, you should not include them in the summary of qualifications as they are futile and of no use to the hiring manager. Thus, you should not incorporate a summary that does not fit with the job requirements as it will reduce your chances of getting hired for that particular job. You must include active statements in your resume that display your actual skills and achievements instead of mentioning the responsibilities associated with your previous jobs and positions.
3. The hiring manager should be able to identify how your skill set made a difference in your role. The recruiter might ignore paragraphs that have an irrelevant beginning and lack hard-hitting statements. You must focus on incorporating the key skills required for the job at hand instead of impertinent skills that add up as useless information in your resume. Do not include self-congratulatory locutions as it makes you look unprofessional and unqualified for the position. You should always highlight accomplishments instead of your duties to be considered by the hiring manager. Furthermore, a good resume should not be composed of several pages as a one or two-page resume will do the job unless you are applying for a position in the field of research or something similar.

E.    Include Pertinent Resume Keywords 

1. Your resume will not get any second glances if the keywords you have included do not correspond with the job posting. It is very essential to make use of the right keywords in order to get noticed by the hiring manager. Keywords are basically the qualities, credentials, abilities and skills of a candidate that a recruiter looks for. While analysing and scanning a bunch of resumes, hiring managers to make use of applicant tracking system (ATS) to get rid of resumes that do not have the required keywords present in them. Your application might even be totally ignored if the talent management system fails to locate certain keywords in your resume.
2. Your eligibility and qualifications for the particular job are exhibited by the keywords you include in your resume or cover letter. It shows the hiring manager that you will be a great fit for the job. Different types of jobs or positions require different types of keywords to be embedded in the cover letter or resume. To include the right keywords in your resume, you must analyse and scrutinise the job postings similar to the positions of your choice. Look for job postings which correspond well with your experience and skill set and choose the right set of keywords. You can also visit the website of the company you are applying for to get the most relevant set of keywords that you can incorporate in your resume. Plus, you can also include keywords that the company uses for itself.
3. You must be specific in your language, follow the best resume format and not skip the keywords which are closely related to your desired job as it can make a huge difference. You should utilise as many keywords as feasible and add them in your resume but do not incorporate a keyword if it is not related to the skill set and qualities you possess. Always use a variety of different keywords instead of just sticking to one as it significantly increases the likelihood of your selection. You can include hard skills, soft skills, buzzwords and more. Keywords should be added in the skills section, resume summary statement and everywhere in the resume where they fit well. Furthermore, you should try to locate keywords from job listings that describe your skills and abilities as it would indubitably help you get selected.

Competition is increasing day by day, and it is getting really difficult to secure a good job because of a large number of applicants. The number of people applying is more than the number of jobs available in the market. This dearth of good jobs in the market is responsible for the rising competition. Hiring managers look for the best candidates who have the most profound and valuable skill set to offer to their company. Your selection for a particular job is very much dependent on the resume you present before the recruiter as it is one of the major deciding factors. You are definitely going to make certain mistakes if this is the first time you are creating a resume. In addition to that, you can easily move to the next round and secure your dream job if you ponder upon and implement the points and tips mentioned in the article