Five Resume Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Career

By Kevin Donlin

President

Guaranteed Resumes

As a professional résumé writer with 11 years of writing, hiring and managing experience, I've seen the same mistakes time and again in résumés. Mistakes in your résumé can damage or even kill your career. Because a sub-standard résumé can prevent you from ever being called for a job interview. But don't worry! If your résumé isn't 100 percent perfect, you're not alone. And help is just below, in this article.

Here are the five mistakes that ruin most résumés (and what you can do to prevent them).

Mistake #1: No objective or summary.

By not describing what job or field you want to work in, you start your résumé off on the wrong foot. Why? You force the employer to read it all the way through to figure out what kind of job you're suited for. You create more work for your busy reader. This is the last thing you want to do!

If you know the exact job title you're applying for, say so! Start the résumé like this:

OBJECTIVE
Marketing Manager, where 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience will add value to operations.

What if you don't know the job title? Start your résumé like this:

SUMMARY
Seeking a position where 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience will add value to operations.

By starting your résumé with a clear objective or a focused summary, you tell the reader exactly what you want to do for him or her. This establishes a rapport and sets the stage for the résumé. Which will greatly improve your results.

Mistake #2: Focusing on you and your needs.

This is the worst mistake you can make. Unfortunately, it's also the most common. Look, no employer wants to hire you. Employers hate hiring! They only hire employees when they have problems to solve. And no employer wants to spend a lot of time hiring you, either, just as you wouldn't want to spend more time in a dentist's chair than you had to. So, your résumé must quickly answer the one question that's on every employer's mind: “What can you do for me?” Unfortunately, most résumés don't.

Most résumés start out like this: “Seeking a position where I can utilize my skills in an atmosphere with potential for career advancement ...” And so on. This sounds fine and logical to the person writing the résumé. But it completely alienates the person READING the résumé. Because this person -- your potential employer -- has his own problems. He could care less about your career aspirations or desire to make more money. Instead, tell the employer how you can add value to his/her operations, or contribute to efficiency.

Notice this opening summary again:

 

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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