From the minute a job ad is placed hiring managers are inundated with a large amount of applications.
Further to this, studies have shown that due to the high volume of applications and with limited time constraints, a hiring manager will spend anywhere from 6 to 30 seconds on each resume. Although each company will have their own guidelines on how much time they will spend reading through a resume, if they cannot find the information they are looking for immediately, your chances of getting on the short list are looking grim.
So, why not make it the best 6 seconds you possibly can? Show them exactly what they want to see – don’t make them search for it because chances are – they’re not going to! Every hiring manager will have their own preference on format and content so it is easier to talk about the wrong content that may be your biggest disadvantage.
Some of the things you avoid adding into your resume include:
- A photograph – your document may get blocked by recruitment software and you don’t want to give anyone a reason to judge you based on your appearance.
- Personal information – this can include your race, sex, religion, marital status, political affiliations, amount of children/grandchildren, physical appearance and characteristics, health status etc This information is irrelevant to your skills and experience which is what a hiring manager is interested in.
- Your Subjects – it is good to include your qualifications/studies/courses however do not include every individual class/subject/unit. This is consuming too much space and can often be confusing.
- Names of people you reported to and their positions –hiring managers want to know more about you and your role not who you worked with.
- False information – never state any false information on your resume or exaggerate your duties in your previous roles.
- Salary – do not include your previous salary or state your future salary expectations. By searching for the job you should be able to gain a general ball park figure on what would be on offer plus – you don’t want to sell yourself short!
- Criminal Record – including this in your resume will not be of any benefit. Your future employer will generally conduct a background check.
- Negative Words – do not incorporate any negative words such as “limited”, “not completed yet” etc. Do not doubt yourself let them know the good things about you!
- Unprofessional Email address – having an unprofessional email address as your contact eg scoobydoo@hotmail.com or princesswarrior@gmail.com etc
- Title – having an extra large title “resume” taking up prime space at the top of the document.
By making your resume easy to read and avoiding these very simple mistakes you are more likely to make the short list and get that call back!
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