10 Resume Mistakes That Are Costing You Interviews
Your resume is your single most important tool in a job search. It has seconds to make an impression on a recruiter or hiring manager. Even talented professionals make critical mistakes that get their resumes tossed. Avoid these ten errors to dramatically increase your chances of landing an interview.
- Using a Generic Objective Statement. Replace with a punchy professional summary that highlights your skills & outcomes in 2–3 sentences.
- Focusing on Duties Instead of Achievements. Use action verbs and quantify results (e.g., “Grew engagement 45% in six months”).
- Including Irrelevant Work Experience. Keep to the last 10–15 years and tailor to the job; remove unrelated roles.
- Using an Unprofessional Email Address. Create a simple address with your name (firstname.lastname@email.com).
- Poor Formatting and Typos. Use a clean layout and proofread multiple times; consider a second set of eyes.
- Including “References Available Upon Request.” It’s assumed. Use the space for another achievement.
- Cramming Too Much Information. Embrace white space, headings, and bullets. One page is ideal for most.
- Buzzwords and Clichés. Avoid fluff (“go-getter”); prefer concrete action verbs and specifics.
- Hiding Important Skills. Add a prominent “Skills” section with tools, platforms, and languages.
- Not Tailoring for Each Job. Customize keywords and highlight the most relevant experience for every application.