3 common resume mistakes and how to avoid them

I’ve reviewed 100s of resumes this week and found 3 common mistakes that you can avoid and make your resume shine

• Contact information. Don’t use full URLs for LinkedIn, GitHub, Portfolio, etc. Instead, use hyperlinks. Make it short and simple. Don’t use icons or words such as “email“, “phone“, “address“. It’s obvious that @gmail.com is your email. Don’t share your full address or postal code, provide only “City, State”

• Order and titles of sections on the resume. If you are a student, it makes sense to start with your Education. If you are looking for full-time opportunities, it’s better to show your Professional Experience. A recommended structure and section titles: Summary (optional), Education (for students - on top, for professionals - at the bottom), Professional Experience, Projects (optional), Leadership Experience (optional), Volunteer Experience (optional), Additional Information (optional). Integrate your skills and awards into your experience or education

• Make it short, measurable, and straight to the point. Use active verbs: managed, led, spearheaded, co-founded, developed, created, implemented, etc. instead of passive verbs: monitored, analyzed, assisted, helped, etc. Recruiters want to know your actions, accomplishments, and achievements. Make them measurable, use absolute numbers, percentages, any quantifiable information. It helps people to evaluate your impact

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DON’T:

Notes: Start with your experience, move Education to the bottom, integrate skills into your experience, use active verbs, measure your success, name sections correctly, make it simple and remove unimportant information

Notes: Don’t use blue colors, underlines, CAPS LOCK for your text, remove lines and separators that don’t make any sense

Notes: Don’t use grey text, it’s hard to read, a two-column resume is hard to read and it takes time to understand its structure. Use a classic resume template

Notes: Don’t use a tiny font and too many bullet points

Notes: No experience, no clear structure, lack of measurable achievements

DO:

Notes: Clear structure, great experience, active verbs, measurable results, skills are integrated into the experience

I hope these insights will help you to create a perfect resume and find a dream job