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Last Updated on October 18, 2025
Key Takeaways
- Content-First Formatting: Use one readable font, consistent spacing, and minimal emphasis. Keep layout simple, ATS-friendly, and scannable with clear headings and quantified accomplishments.
- Customize and Quantify: Tailor each submission to the job description. Include only relevant roles, mirror key keywords, and quantify outcomes to quickly prove impact.
- Protect Against Bias: Exclude photos, age, graduation years, and personal details. Focus on
skills and results to reduce screening bias and keep attention on competence. - Handle References and Pay Wisely: Leave references off and provide upon request. Discuss compensation ranges, not current
salary , to preserve leverage during negotiations. - Proofread Relentlessly: Run spell and grammar checks, then ask a trusted reviewer to catch errors and unclear phrasing. Flaws here often cost interviews immediately.
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Resume Mistakes to Avoid
- Generic Objectives: Avoid vague statements. Tailor
your resume to each job, highlighting how yourskills align with the role’s requirements. - Irrelevant Work Experience: Only include past roles and achievements relevant to the job you’re applying for to keep your resume focused and concise.
- Lack of Quantifiable Achievements: Enhance
your resume by quantifying your accomplishments and demonstrating your impact in previous positions with specific data. - Poor Formatting: A cluttered or hard-to-read resume can be off-putting. Use clean lines, bullet points, and appropriate fonts to improve readability.
- Spelling and Grammar Errors: Such mistakes suggest a lack of attention to detail. Always proofread
your resume or have it reviewed by others.
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- Too Long: Aim for conciseness. A one-page resume is ideal for most applicants, extending to two pages only for those with extensive relevant experience.
- Using Clichés: Avoid overused phrases like “hard worker” or “team player.” Instead, provide concrete examples that demonstrate these qualities.
- Listing Duties Instead of Achievements: Focus on what you’ve accomplished in your roles, not just your responsibilities.
- Failure to Tailor: Customize your resume for each application to show you’ve researched the company and understand the role.
- Personal Information: Exclude details like age, marital status, or photos, as they’re not relevant to your professional qualifications and can introduce bias.
1. Your Picture:
As pretty or handsome as you may be, you should not include your picture on your resume unless you are a model or actor. You will not be evaluated based on your appearance, but rather on your skillset and experience. A photo on
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2. References:
It’s probably best to leave references off
3. Grammar and Spelling:
Spell checks don’t always work as planned, and grammar checkers even less so. If your resume has basic typographical errors, it is highly unlikely that you will get an interview. Even if you’ve checked
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4. Compensation Information:
The inevitable “How much do you make?” will come up during the interview process. Including your
Example of a response to “How much do you make?”
“I’m more focused on finding a role that aligns with my career goals and offers a competitive compensation package based on the market rates and my experience. Could you share the range budgeted for this position?”
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5. Format:
Your resume should stand on the content (your experience), not fancy graphics. Stick with one font, don’t overuse bold, and leave out underlines. That being said,
6. Dates:
Don’t include the year you graduated from
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7. Other Stuff to Consider:
Many items add no value to a resume and can actually hurt you by signaling bias, immaturity, or a lack of judgment. Keep your document focused on relevant achievements and remove anything personal, assumed, distracting, or unprofessional.
- Unprofessional Contact Info: Avoid inappropriate
email names and never use your employer’semail . - Personal Details: Do not list age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, or other non-job-related attributes.
- Reasons for Leaving: Explanations belong in conversations, not on paper.
- Objectives and Hobbies: Skip generic objectives and unrelated hobbies unless explicitly relevant to the role.
- Current Work Materials: Do not hand out your employer’s business card with your application.
- GPA and Irrelevant Jobs: Omit GPA unless early-career and requested; remove unrelated jobs that dilute focus.
- Political or Physical Info: Avoid political affiliations and physical characteristics entirely.
- Obvious
Skills : Do not list basics like Microsoft Office or other universally assumed competencies. - Buzzwords Without Proof: Replace phrases like “hard worker” with evidence of output or results.
- Accuracy Is Mandatory: Never misrepresent roles, titles, or results—verification is common and dishonesty is disqualifying.
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Next Steps
- Audit for Relevance: Trim roles and bullets that don’t serve the target job. Align accomplishments with requirements, prioritizing recent, role-matched achievements and keywords from the posting.
- Quantify Outcomes: Convert responsibilities into results. Add metrics showing impact—revenue influenced, costs reduced, time saved, quality improved—using precise numbers and brief context for credibility.
- Format for
ATS : Use standard fonts, clear headings, and simple bullets. Avoid text boxes, tables, and graphics. Submit the employer’s requested file type to ensure reliable parsing. - Proofread and Review: Run spell and grammar checks, then read aloud. Ask a trusted reviewer to flag unclear wording, inconsistent tenses, and missing metrics before submitting.
- Manage Sensitive Details: Omit photo, age, graduation year, and personal data. List references upon request. Discuss compensation ranges during conversations, not current
salary on the document.
Final Words
Strong applications showcase focused achievements, credible metrics, and polished presentation that respects how employers screen at scale. Treat each submission as a tailored case for fit, emphasizing outcomes relevant to the role while avoiding distractions that add noise without value. Keep language concise, structure predictable, and evidence easy to verify. A brief peer review often reveals improvements you might miss on your own, and consistent iteration compounds results. Build momentum by tracking responses, refining content, and reinforcing the narrative that you deliver measurable impact.
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Mark Fiebert is a former finance executive who hired and managed dozens of professionals during his 30-plus-year career. He now shares expert job search, resume, and career advice on CareerAlley.com.
