Avoiding the Cardinal Sins of Resume Writing
Take some time to ponder the following pitfalls of resume writing, and do your best to avoid them in your own resume.
Unprofessionalism
Your resume, above all, must look professional. Consider the following:
- Using paper or ink in unusual colors (such as pinks and blues) and paper in unusual sizes (anything other than 8-1/2 x 11) demonstrates that you are not a candidate to be taken seriously. You want your qualifications, not your choice of paper or ink, to stand out.
It should be printed in black ink on 8-1/2-x-11, preferably white bond, paper. (Ivory and light gray are okay, too, but stay away from light pinks and blues.) The margins should be at least 1 inch all around.
- You should use one of the most commonly recognized resume formats.
- The typeface should be simple, unadorned, and easy to read. It should not look like calligraphy — the typeface people use for wedding invitations. Although it's okay to use graphic flourishes such as bullets and boldface for emphasis, remember to keep them to a minimum and avoid them altogether in resumes that are destined for optical scanners. Stick to a single typeface in a single size.
- The information in the resume should be presented in short, easy-to-read paragraphs.
- Make sure that no extraneous pen or pencil marks or correction fluid appear on the resume.
Carelessness
A single typo in an otherwise well-organized and professional-looking resume may not necessarily sink you, but if the resume is riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors, you send the message to would-be employers that you don't pay attention to details.
Cuteness and cleverness
Forget puns and clever plays on words; they don't belong in a resume, and they don't belong in a cover letter, either. And what you may consider clever, most people — even those who may be amused by the cleverness — will not consider appropriate.
Irrelevance and fluff
The people who read your resume are interested in one thing above all: whether, based on what they read, you deserve serious consideration as a candidate. Given this priority, any information in your resume that doesn't contribute an answer to this basic question is irrelevant. If you're a college graduate, you don't have to mention the high school you attended. And go easy on your hobbies and interests.
Vagueness or jargon
Vagueness occurs when you mention a job title, task, or set of abbreviations that nobody other than you and the person you used to work for are going to recognize, such as Asst. VP, RTP Div. of Corporate Reclassification of ETY Documents. It also rears its ugly head when you fail to mention specifically what you were responsible for in your last job, the number of people you supervised, the size of the budget you controlled, and so on.
Misrepresentation
Don't lie or embellish the truth. Of course, you would be foolish to include in your resume anything remotely unflattering. But the risks of fudging the truth in your resume far outweigh the benefits, particularly when it comes to specific facts, such as credentials and titles.
If you were not a vice president of whatever in your last job, don't anoint yourself with that title simply because the company you used to work for is out of business. The issue here goes beyond ethics; it's practical as well. If, in checking your references, a would-be employer discovers that you misrepresented yourself in your resume — even if the misrepresentation is inconsequential — your credibility will take a beating and you stand a good chance of losing an offer. If your employer discovers a lie after hiring you, you could lose the job that you worked so hard to get. And you may find yourself in over your head if you inflated prior titles or responsibilities — obviously counterproductive.
Overkill
Overkill is the excessive use of superlatives, regardless of who or what those superlatives modify. There's nothing wrong with tooting your own horn in your resume, as long as the notes you toot are actual accomplishments and not simply adjectives that proclaim to the reader how wonderful you are.
Underwhelming
You need to do more in your resume than simply list the specific functions you performed in your previous jobs. What you did is obviously important. More important to an employer, though, is the impact of what you did — your accomplishments.
Longwindedness
The extent to which a resume is "longwinded" has less to do with how long it is — whether it's a one-pager or a two-pager — and more to do with the language you use to describe your past experience. Don't fall victim to the misconception that the best way to make a mundane task appear more important is to dress it up in lofty language.
Editorializing
Your opinions on matters such as why a particular project didn't work out or why you had to leave a job don't really belong in a resume. Keep your views and sentiments to yourself, as valid as they may be.
Overpersonalizing
Apart from the basics — your name, address, and phone number — don't include in your resume any information that relates to your personal life. Don't mention your age, your height, your weight, the color of your eyes, the kind of dog you own, your marital status, the number of children you have, the condition of your health, or how many push-ups you can do. Don't talk about your hobbies either. An employer who spends seconds looking over your resume isn't going to care.
Resumespeak
The most effective resumes are written in plain, simple language. Yes, the writing style you use in your resume should be professional and businesslike, and yes, you should avoid slang and trendy words. But be equally wary of business jargon and go easy on "businessese": words and phrases such as "assisted in the facilitation of" and "optimized."
Careers Glossary
academic curriculum vitae resume
A resume format that includes a comprehensive biographical statement of three to ten pages. This resume format emphasizes professional qualifications and activities.
Careers Glossary
accomplishment resume
A variation of the hybrid resume that includes qualifications and accomplishments.
Careers Glossary
Americans with Disabilities Act; ADA
A document signed into law that makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against (or refuse to hire) a person simply because that person has one or more disabilities.
Careers Glossary
applicant tracking system
A software application that helps a company recruit employees more efficiently. Includes features to post job openings online, screen resumes, acknowledge the receipt of resumes, and generate interview requests.
Careers Glossary
behavior-based interview
A type of job interview in which candidates are asked what kinds of behaviors they have used in the past to handle certain situations and solve problems.
Careers Glossary
blog
A Web-based journal that is written and updated by one or more blog writers, or bloggers. Today's more sophisticated versions read like media stories and columns.
Careers Glossary
branding statement
A marketing tool for job seekers consisting of a brief statement that communicates who you are in the workplace; typically used in resumes and job interviews. Also sometimes called a branding brief.
Careers Glossary
broadcast letters
Self-marketing letters that a job seeker sends to a large but carefully targeted list of potential employers. These letters are designed to uncover an opportunity in the hidden (unadvertised) job market.
Careers Glossary
career management documents
A family of job letters that are self-marketing tools for people who want to be hired for the best jobs. Includes job ad reply letters, broadcast and prospecting letters, resume letters, follow-up letters, and e-mail cover notes.
Careers Glossary
competency-based approach
A resume style that focuses on the skills and talents needed to be able to perform a particular task to a certain standard. Connects your behaviors with your accomplishments.
Careers Glossary
core resume
A starting resume that you use as a base or template to spin off targeted versions of your resume (for specific positions) when you must move quickly.
Careers Glossary
cover letter
A self-marketing document designed to sell yourself and get an interview for a specific job; typically accompanies a resume.
Careers Glossary
credit histories; consumer reports
Reports that contain your payment history to creditors. These reports may also include names of previous employers, residential stability data, divorce information, and estimated prior earnings.
Careers Glossary
directive interview
A type of job interview in which the interviewer maintains complete control and walks you through the discussion to uncover what he or she wants to know.
Careers Glossary
EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC is a U.S. federal agency that investigates discrimination complaints.
Careers Glossary
e-mail cover note
An e-mail message that introduces a resume that you distribute online. Typically, a shortened and more informal version of a cover letter.
Careers Glossary
e-resumes
Electronic resumes. Resumes that you distribute online.
Careers Glossary
font
A complete character set comprised of a single size and typeface, such as 12-point Helvetica.
Careers Glossary
font size
The height of the characters in a font set, measured in points, such as 10-point or 14-point. One point is equal to 1/72 of an inch.
Careers Glossary
foundation skills
A skills language used in cover letters to communicate your expertise in fundamental job skills — includes basic skills, people skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities.
Careers Glossary
functional resume
A resume format that focuses on portable skills or functional areas and ignores chronological order. This resume format works well for career changers, new graduates, ex-military personnel, work-history gaps, or special-issue problems.
Careers Glossary
hybrid resume
A resume format that is a combination of the reverse chronological resume format and the functional resume format.
Careers Glossary
instant messaging; IM
A real-time form of communication between two or more people online, who type messages back and forth in a window. Job seekers can attach resumes to messages.
Careers Glossary
integrity test
A test administered by a potential employer during the interviewing process that rates honesty, responsibility, and reliability for the job.
Careers Glossary
intellectual property
Work samples that you submit to a potential employer during the job interview process, such as portfolios, project materials, and proposals.
Careers Glossary
international curriculum vitae resume
An excruciatingly detailed resume format used to apply for international jobs. This resume style is typically six to eight pages long and often uses the reverse chronological format.
Careers Glossary
job ad reply letter
A letter that is written in reaction to a published job opening in print or online.
Careers Glossary
job board
A Web site that posts general or specialized job listings, such as CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com.
Careers Glossary
keyword resume
A resume format that places a profile of keywords at the top of a document. This resume format is not in common use today because current resume search databases can pick up keywords anywhere in a resume, not just at the beginning of a document.
Careers Glossary
keywords
Internet search words (generally nouns and short phrases) that identify your qualifications. Employers use keywords to search and retrieve e-resumes in databases for available job positions.
Careers Glossary
linear resume
A resume format that flows one line at a time and relates achievements, winning moves, and star points in short, quick spurts; designed to attract the eyes of busy readers.
Careers Glossary
marketing pitch
A personal commercial that you create to sell yourself during a job search. A marketing pitch should be about one to two minutes long.
Careers Glossary
nondirective interview
A type of job interview where the interviewer's questions tend to be broad and general so that you can elaborate and tell stories about yourself and your qualifications.
Careers Glossary
OFCCP
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The OFCCP is an agency that tracks the diversity hiring record of those applying for positions with federal contractors.
Careers Glossary
online executive bio
A short profile (about 200 words or less) that is placed on social networking sites and job boards to advance employment or business objectives. Includes keywords and a link to a full resume.
Careers Glossary
online profile
A lengthy multi-link document that appears on Internet networking and career sites such as LinkedIn.com and VisualCV.com.
Careers Glossary
online referral service
An e-mail job distribution method paid for by employers. This service helps you identify which of your contacts may know people at companies where you would like to work.
Careers Glossary
online screening program
A form of pre-employment screening that verifies that you are a good fit for the position and that you haven’t lied about your background. May include online tests, assessment instruments, and questionnaires.
Careers Glossary
patterned interview
A type of job interview (also called a structured interview) in which the interviewer works from a written list of questions asked of all candidates and writes down your responses.
Careers Glossary
personality test
A test administered by a potential employer during the interviewing process that measures choice, preference, values, behavior, decisions, attitudes, and job-related interests.
Careers Glossary
podcast
A digital audio or video file that is available for downloading from a Web site. Usually available in a series that is often packaged like a daily newscast or commentary.
Careers Glossary
podcasting
The process of creating and distributing audio and video feeds over the Internet. To make a podcast, you need a computer, microphone, Internet access, and recording software.
Careers Glossary
portfolio
A collection of work samples often delivered as part of the job interview process for those in fields such as design, graphics, photography, architecture, advertising, public relations, marketing, education, and contracting.
Careers Glossary
professional resume
A resume format that emphasizes professional qualifications and activities and is typically three to five pages long. This format is essentially a shortened version of the academic curriculum vitae resume format.
Careers Glossary
prospecting letters
Self-marketing letters that a job seeker sends to a relatively small and select number of potential employers. These letters are designed to uncover an opportunity in the hidden (unadvertised) job market.
Careers Glossary
recruiter; headhunter
An employers’ personal shopper, tasked with going into the marketplace and bringing back the best qualified candidates for the thriftiest prices.
Careers Glossary
resume blasting services
A service that advertises their willingness to save you time and trouble by “blasting” your resume to thousands of recruiters and hiring managers all over the Internet — for a fee. These services are generally not recommended due to privacy and identity theft concerns.
Careers Glossary
resume letter
A self-marketing document that combines a cover letter with a resume (the resume is not a separate document). This type of letter is typically two pages long, but can be one page.
Careers Glossary
reverse chronological resume
A resume format that includes employment history from the most recent jobs working backwards, showing dates for employers and educational institutions. This resume format works well for those with a steady career progression.
Careers Glossary
screener
An employee (typically an administrative assistant or HR specialist) who monitors phone calls for a company when you call their main telephone line.
Careers Glossary
screening interview
A first-cut job interview that is used to weed out all applicants except those who are best qualified for the position.
Careers Glossary
selection interview
A job interview in which you meet with a supervisor, department head, or another person who has the authority to hire you.
Careers Glossary
SEO
An acronym for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a method of using technical and strategic maneuvers to increase the traffic driven by search engines to a Web site.
Careers Glossary
serial interview
A type of job interview in which you are typically passed from the initial screener to a line manager to a top manager — and perhaps a half-dozen people in between.
Careers Glossary
social networking services
Web-based services — including discussion groups, message boards, e-mail, and blogs — that give users a way to find and interact with people who have similar interests. Some of this interactivity focuses on job search and recruiting.
Careers Glossary
spiders
Automated programs (software) used by specialized search engines to scrape (crawl) the Web to find and haul in content, such as job postings. Also called robots or just 'bots.
Careers Glossary
stress interview
A type of job interview in which the interviewer intentionally uses various intimidation tactics to attempt to put pressure on you.
Careers Glossary
targeted resume
A resume that is customized for a specific employment goal or position in a job search.
Careers Glossary
typeface
A specific family of fonts in a similar design style (including multiple sizes of that font), such as Arial or Times New Roman.
Careers Glossary
vertical job search engines
Online search engines that search only for job listings, across multiple job sites at once. Examples include SimplyHired.com and Jobster.com. Also called verticals or aggregators.
Careers Glossary
video resume
A canned video interview in which a candidate speaks about his or her qualifications, goals, and strengths; sometimes called a video podcast.
Careers Glossary
watermark
A faint image ingrained in quality-stock paper. Resumes are commonly printed on paper stock that includes a watermark.
Careers Glossary
Web 2.0
The second generation of Web design that uses sites in which people communicate and share information. Web 2.0 tools include blogs, instant messaging, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social networking services.
Careers Glossary
Web resume
An electronic resume that you post on a personal Web site; also sometimes called an e-portfolio or HTML resume.
Share This
