Resume Sway

When it comes to resume-writing, I know of twenty mistakes people commonly make when they write their own resume. Here are the top three...
 
1. Is Your Resume Targeted To The Right Audience?
 
Many times, job-seekers don't know what kind of work they really want to do, and in today's sluggish economy, they will settle for any job they can get that will pay the bills. As a result, these job-seekers create a general resume that is not focused on a particular job or industry.
 
You might be asking, "Well...why is that such a problem?" And to answer that, it is important that you know...
 
When company Hiring Managers or Human Resource Directors look over these generalized resumes, they will usually toss them in the trash or delete them from their email. Or even worse, they will show them to their friends at their company and have a collective laugh at your expense around the water cooler!
So if you have a general resume that is not targeted to a specific type of job or industry, now is the time to make your resume a winning resume.
                  
# 2. Does Your Resume's Layout and Design Look Appealing To The Reader's Eye?
 
Did you know that Hiring Managers and Human Resources Directors sometimes go through HUNDREDS of resumes for a single advertised position? Do you think they actually read through all of them?
 
Absolutely not!!!
 
When a resume comes across their desk, it has an "audition time" of less than five seconds.
 
FIVE...FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE...That's all you got!
 
With that in mind, let me ask you this...
 
Does the layout and design of your resume make the reader want to read more, or toss it in the garbage with the rest of the resumes he or she has read that day? I don't mean to scare you with this information, but...
 
What is even scarier, is that you may be the BEST QUALIFIED person for the position, but because the format was sloppy, had too much or not enough "white space" or the font and type was difficult to read - your resume didn't last past that five second audition when you could have had them calling you for an interview!
 
When you look at a winning resume, the layout and design will be perfect. The type, font, spacing, and resume length will not only make your accomplishments stand out - but will do so in a way that will make the reader at the company want to read your resume from start to finish and call you for an interview right on the spot!
 
So pay attention to the design and layout of your resume. Employers are!
 
# 3. Did You Proofread Your Resume?
                                                                                 
This may seem obvious, but when I look at the resumes that my clients have been using with no results - I noticed that they were riddled with numerous typographical and grammatical errors!
 
Ouch!!!
 
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot before you can get it in the door at the company you are applying to work at!
 
I understand that many people who write their own resume may not spell very well, nor did they do very well in their high school grammar classes.
 
As a matter of fact, before I became a professional resume writer, I actually used to teach science at the middle school and high school levels. So I know first hand about how frustrating it can be to want to communicate something on paper, but not be able to do so effectively because of a lack of spelling and grammar skills.
 
But nonetheless...
 
The one thing you must understand about these typographical and grammatical errors is that they "scream out" to the reader that you (as an adult with access to spell check and grammar check) are a person who does not pay attention to detail.
 
And that devastates your chances of getting an interview anytime soon. So if you write your own resume, then be sure to use spell check and grammar check!
 
Avoiding these three major resume-writing mistakes will result in more interviews and get you started in a new career sooner.