Your resume is a company’s first look at what skills and accomplishments you might bring to the job. Don’t make it their last look! Be sure to avoid these major resume mistakes:
■You failed to tailor your resume to the specific job you want. So even though you have the skills that the company asked for in their advertisement or posting, you left the details out of your resume. Those specific skills must be in your resume and should be prominent, preferably at the top of your resume.

■Your contact information is incomplete and does not include a professional email address. A professional email address consists of your first and last name. Cute email addresses are not professional. If you have a common name, try putting your last name first or adding numbers after your name. Avoid the numbers 1 and 0. In some fonts, they look like letters and can confuse people reading your resume. Does your johndoel address refer to John Doe One or John Doel?

■ You lied about or apologized for or over-explained your qualifications. If you lack confidence in your abilities, how can an employer have confidence that you are the right person to hire? A resume should describe you honestly but also show you at your best.

■ You did not proofread the last draft. A last minute change might affect your entire resume. For example, if you add a word on page one, it might force a line awkwardly onto page two or even create a blank page. Or perhaps you corrected the spelling of a company name in one place but neglected to change it in another place. Always proofread the last draft as carefully as the first draft.

■ You never sent the resume out. You had so much advice from friends and relations that you became paralyzed by the chance of making a mistake. If you never send out a resume, you will never be asked to interview. In truth, no one keeps track of how many resumes you send out or how many never receive a response. All you need is one “yes.” Send your resume out today and start asking for that “yes.”

What would you place in your top five resume sins? If you know someone who is making mistakes on their resume, ask them to give me a call.

Author's Bio: 

Robin Schlinger, as a recognized Resume Writing Expert, is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW), Certified Federal Resume Writer (CFRW), Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC). She is a member of Career Directors International (CDI), Career Management Alliance, Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) and National Resume Writers Association (NRWA).

Robin has been writing resumes since 2001. In 2006, she started her own company, Robin’s Resumes® (www.robinresumes.com) specializing in Executive, Technical, Student and Federal Resumes.

Based on her excellent innovation, writing and editing skills, Robin has judged several resume writing and career innovator awards. She is a resume writing expert for Tory Johnson’s Women For Hire and has given presentations on resume writing to career management, colleges, professional and other organizations.

Robin uses her previous experience as a Senior Chemical Engineer, Quality Engineer, Process Engineer, Planning Analyst and Applications Engineer to help her clients. Robin earned a BSChE with a minor in Writing from MIT.