6 Myths about Resume Writing

Person reviewing or editing a resume. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

After surveying human resource and recruiting experts in its network, employment site Bright.com discovered six myth-busting tips that will surprise you:

Myth: You need an objective statement.
Once it was imperative that you start your resume with a statement declaring your career objective or your hope in the next career move. Well, fuggetaboutit, as they say in New York! Bright learned that recruiters are more interested in your experience and qualifications and skip over this section entirely.

Myth: Spelling errors immediately disqualify you.
It is important to proofread your resume before emailing it out, but spelling and grammatical mistakes do not necessarily mean your resume ends in the trash file. Recruiters are more focused on work experience to determine fit. A good habit – re-read your resume whenever applying. Fresh eyes can catch mistakes previously overlooked.

Myth: You must keep your resume 1-2 pages long.
Not true! Bright learned that page count is not as important as the number of words on the page. What keeps recruiters reading besides your work experience? About 390 words per page.

Myth: Achievements should be highlighted in a separate section.
By separating accomplishments from the experience, recruiters are more likely to overlook this section. Instead, showcase them by bulleting them in the relevant sections.

Myth: Hit the thesaurus for action verbs.
Actually, Bright’s research discovered that diverse language is not a must. So don’t worry about buying a thesaurus to find different action verbs for every achievement. Just make sure you’re highlighting achievements that will help you stand out from the competition.

Myth: Full name, address, email address and phone number are required.
Having a contacts sections has no impact on a recruiter’s decision to take your resume out of the slush pile. However, if you want to land that interview, make the recruiter’s job as easy as possible and include as much contact information as you are comfortable with.

This post is provided by Bright.com.