Everyone knows that creating a resume is a complicated task. They have many important components that anyone can mess up on the first pass. As you keep returning to your resume, you’ll need to identify these areas that require extra attention. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the common resume mistakes everyone should avoid.

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General Spelling Errors

General spelling errors are one of the most common resume mistakes. As you write up your resume, you should look out for spelling errors and typos as you go. Especially in professional settings, hiring managers often use the presence of spelling errors to determine which resumes they keep and throw out. If your resume is filled with spelling errors and typos, chances are high that you won’t get far in the process.

Thankfully, most resume creation apps & software catch simple typos, such as a missing letter or a mistakenly typed one. They typically show red lines underneath misspelled words that you can use to go back and correct them. However, even if your document has no spelling errors highlighted, always go back and review. Particularly in English, many words have multiple spelling forms that mean different things.

Adding Too Much Personal Information

Many people feel as though their resume should include personal details like hobbies and activities. For the average job application, these details aren’t appropriate. Resumes are all about the most relevant parts of your experience, skills, and knowledge. If your hobbies and extra-curriculars do not support your experience in some way, leave it off.

There may be an opportunity to include an “About Me” section. The company might have an exceptional work-life balance or family-oriented culture. In this way, you could write about yourself in more detail. In general, though, you should keep your personal life to yourself unless brought up in a casual conversation, such as during an interview.

Adding A Photo Of Yourself

Inserting a good photo of yourself into your resume might seem like a good idea in theory. In practice, though, you shouldn’t do this. You could actually hurt your chances of getting interviews by adding one.

There are a few reason as to why this is the case.

• Many recruiters want to be cautious about unconscious bias and discrimination. Therefore, they won’t consider any resumes with photos on them, in fairness to other candidates.
• Some recruiters view resume photos as unprofessional or informal.
• Resumes with photos on them don’t work well with applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Including References You Haven’t Contacted

This is a trap some resume writers fall into. Getting references is as simple as a quick phone call or email. However, some people skip this step and assume the reference will understand and give a good review of them. Understandably, you shouldn’t include someone’s name and contact info in your references list without asking permission.

Not contacting your references first is not only rude, but it can also come back to bite you later. Hiring managers use reference lists to gain confidence in you if they are considering hiring you. You enhance your credibility by having a reference list. If you don’t contact your references ahead of time, and they are unaware that you have their contact information listed, this harms your credibility. Recruiters will notice this and take it into consideration.

Once you’ve got your resume worked out, its time to start job searching. Contact us today to find out how we can help you with that process!