Resume Anxieties – 5 Deadly Mistakes Made by Masters Or PhD Resume Writers
If we never met you have a decent and useful CV formatted professionally, has you name on page 2 (often omitted on hard copies), readable serif type (New Times Roman), and confined to two pages. Better two pages than one and a solid case can be made for, yes, three pages. More than one page allows you to use larger type and more white space; motivators to get readers upon first reading to spend more than the average 11 seconds with your document.
1) Sorry! Too much text is jammed on two pages causing you to use way too small (10pt) type. Not recommended though widely used. Paragraphs are insurance-policy dense. Ugh! Recruiters (or any reader) faced with hundreds of resumes will skip through yours because it looks like there’s too much to read. They are correct. Tech New Master
2) If we get an interested reader to read the first half of page one she is faced with glittering puffery about how great you think you are rather than attributing such praise to an actual or implied third person. You say you are “Motivated, Energetic, Astute Problem Solver adept at harnessing efficiency, and Cost Effectiveness; Enthusiastic, Cheerful, and an Effective Problem Solver (repeated twice in the same paragraph).” Color me bored with how great you say you are. The reader wants to know who you are rather than what you think of you. I f you say you are an “Avid Technology Champion” and “World Renowned Scholar” let’s quote someone other than you. Someone more believable.
3) Congratulations on your statements of accomplishments (achievements). Most resume owner/writers leave out results. Good job. You also used past tense verbs. Also good. Only trouble is, gee whiz, there are 9 statements averaging three sentences each. Too long.
4) Most professional recruiters want to see, on average, ten years employment history. You are not well served by suddenly and inconsistently dropping in earlier employment and casually labeling it “prior to ____(year).” Saying you “held various positions at State University and Shannon Tech Conferences” is not going to cut it. The two employers must be fleshed out just as you did with earlier employers.
5) Your final three statements of accomplishment, while excellent in content a) Need not all start with the same word “developed.” Such repetition will “turn off the reader,” b) Each of the statements should support the two final employers. Ignoring this advice will cause pro recruiters to think you are hiding something when you are not.
If some or a lot of this looks familiar it is because a lot of the errors shown here are not uncommon even when hired resume writers are helping job hunters. To err is human. Work as a team. Manually proof read always.