Create a Killer Resume and Cover Letter

5 Things to Avoid When Creating Your Resume

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You only get one shot to convince your potential employer that you’re the best candidate for the job, so you need to give it all you’ve got. By understanding they get a couple of hundred resumes sent their way on a daily basis, you either captivate their attention from the very start or get left behind. No matter what you write, the following 5 things should not be included when writing a resume:

1. Irrelevant work experiences

As any resume-crafting expert will tell you, customization is key. Putting it another way, your resume should only contain the work experience that’s relevant to the job position you’re applying to. If you’re targeting an IT company, what good could it possibly do to mention the years you’ve spent working as a waiter? Maybe you could make a point by mentioning the people skills this has allowed you to develop, but then again… how relevant would they be in the given case? Unless you’re going to be working in tech support, probably not that much.

2. Hobbies

So you’re good at sports. You could probably make a case of how engaging in sports activities has helped you develop a team-centric mentality, but in most cases, your hobbies should be left out. That’s especially true if you’re a hardcore gamer; even though the world is slowly starting to realize how eSports is changing the world around us in a good way, sadly, some people still associate it with laziness and a lack of ambition.

“Make sure that you don’t include the wrong information, which is anything which might lead the company to conclude that you are not motivated or qualified to do the job. review information on how employers decide which applicant to hire before starting work on your resume.” – Alison Doyle

3. Wordiness

The golden rule to follow is that if you can say something by using fewer words, you should do so. It cannot be overstated how important this is; after all, you should never be testing the reader’s patience. On a similar note, don’t be boring. If you want to check out a couple of examples and learn how this looks in practice, head on over to the resume templates book below and get inspired.

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12/11/2024 09:15 am GMT

4. Funny-looking email addresses

If your email address is something like [email protected], don’t even think about including it in your professional resume for obvious reasons. Create a new one if need be, as there are plenty of providers out there that allow you to open one for free. The process should not take more than a couple of minutes to complete.

5. Crazy fonts

No matter how unique you believe using some crazy fonts would make you come across, don’t do it. Fonts that are too outside of the ordinary (Arial, Times New Roman, etc.) just scream unprofessionalism. Clearly not something you want to be associated with. Besides, sticking to conventional fonts would benefit your resume readability-wise.

Most of the focus on resume writing has been about writing your resume. Not much attention has been given to what not to include. Certain items could cost you an interview. You need to follow resume etiquette to ensure that you come across as a consummate professional.

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Conclusion

Apart from the things you want to avoid, you should also make sure that your resume is cleverly written and that it contains exactly the right type of elements that will convince a potential employer. If you focus on relevant skills, and related jobs you’ve worked in the past, and make everything as factual as it can be, your career success is only a matter of time.

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12/11/2024 07:43 am GMT

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