Career, resume tips
4 Common Mistakes You Are Making With Your Resume
So, you have sat up all night constructing the perfect resume.
You’re using all the tools you learned in high school, all the fantastic tips your Careers Advisor or Counsellor taught you. You have a quick look to make sure all your spelling is ok…..and…
You don’t get any call backs..
How disheartening.
“But my Resume was perfect!” you think. “How rude of them not to write back to me!”
Well, here’s some news for you… it’s 2017.
Shock!
The Resume and Cover Letter game moves at high speeds. What is popular today, is taboo in a months time, and unfortunately for you, it’s not very easy to stay on top of if you aren’t in the industry!
Well, lucky for you, those of us here at PATH Consulting immerse ourselves in the Resume, Cover Letter, and general Human Resources (HR) industry on the daily.
So let us do the hard work for you.
Starting with this handy little list of the 4 (likely) places you are going wrong when writing your own Resume.
1. You’re Using Outdated, Unwanted Methods
Yep, this is the big one. Most people were taught about ‘how to write a Resume’ from an unqualified and over-enthusiastic High School teacher or teachers aide.
These might do the job if you’re only applying for your local Banana Stand…
But if you REALLY want to take the next big leap, you need to have a modern, professional, and optimised Resume and Cover Letter.
You just do, there’s no way around it.
2. Spelling Mistakes
Remember in High School where it was WAY more fun to throw paper planes with ‘Do You Like Me’ written on them to your crush? Remember when your aim was TERRIBLE and it lander near someone you really didn’t want reading it?
Well, this was happening while you were supposed to be learning English. Oops.
One of the biggest problems we at PATH Consulting see every time someone sends us their OLD Resume is spelling.
It’s easy to get stuff wrong in your resume – you’re not focused on spelling, you’re focused on writing, designing, and being factually correct – we hope.
This eagerness to finish your Resume and find your dream job leads to mistakes – mistakes that the professionals don’t make.
So what is the solution? Get someone else to do it.
3. Lying
Yep. Plenty of you do it. Consequently, plenty of you get caught doing it.
In my time as a HR Manager, the amount of applicants that flat out lied was astonishing.
You always get found out in the end. Worst of all, those within the industry share these liars with each other.
As a result, you can literally get a black mark against your name that is VERY hard to remove.
If you lack experience, or you lack longevity, or maybe you have had an extended period without work, there ARE ways you can help yourself on your resume.
Therefore, you need to be creative with your writing in a way that draws out all the positives about you, in a manner that covers the negatives.
Contact us if you need help with this one. A resume that is truthful is especially relevant in 2017. It shows integrity.
4. Your Resume is NOT Graphic Designed
Well, it’s 2017. Everything is flashy. Everything makes you say “WOW”.
It’s no longer a stand out idea to have a professionally designed resume – it’s the norm!
So, you are at a disadvantage if you have a plain old resume, not because you blend in, but because you stand out for the wrong reasons.
Nobody wants to hire someone that hasn’t got it in them to go the extra mile to bring their resume up to scratch.
That may mean paying a professional to complete your resume, or it may mean doing some research via professional blog posts.
Either way, you need to get in the game if you want to be noticed!
So, what next?
Well, does it seem simple enough? It’s ok if it doesn’t. Most of all, it’s important to remember that industry is dynamic, fast paced, and changes at an alarming rate.
We will continue to pump out quality content to help you on your journey, so if it all gets too much, just contact us at hello@pathconsulting.com.au to discuss how we can help you with your Resume and Cover Letter issues.
Take a load off, watch some Netflix.
You Deserve It.
Michael,
PATH Consulting
