Looking to kick start your professional life after graduating? Right from creating a resume to face interview questions is a first step for sharing your qualification and skills in a way that makes recruiters hire you in their company. But, make sure you steer clear of the biggest resume mistakes to ensure your resume leads to an interview round and not the trash folder.

The best way to safeguard your resume is to stay aware of common resume mistakes and how to avoid them. Make sure to check your resume attentively for top resume mistakes, or an interviewer will throw your resume in the trash even before opening it.

Let's begin with the necessary steps. Before you start thinking about searching your mistakes in resume writing, keep this in mind, the resume is the primary and most essential window into an applicant's professional career. Here are the top 10 resume mistakes to avoid that could cost you a job which you have been dreaming for years.

Top Most Common Resume Mistakes To Avoid

1. Inconsistent formatting

You want hiring managers to firmly believe you created or customized resume for your current employment search. Preferable, it should be tailored to the job role for which you are thinking to apply.

Using different fonts, bullets, inconsistent bolding, date formats, etc., will cause to appear as you've added sections to the same resume document, which will be highlighted as resume mistake. This will show that you have not much attention to your job application or job description.

Usually, there is no fixed rule of using underlining, bolding and headers onto your resume. Still, there are resume formats from which you can choose one for you as per your qualification and experience and stick to it.

2. Resume with too many stylistic embellishments

Unique features like color and graphics in a resume might have added visual interest for the recruiter ten years ago. However, at present, most of these unique features will be filtered out through ATS, i.e. Applicant Tracking System.

A modern resume comes with a basic design. The main reason behind the simple design is that the content should be clear to pass the 6-second resume scan test.

Select fonts that are universally used and clear, like Arial and Calibri. These text fonts are intended to look best on a screen, which is how most recruiters and hiring managers will scan your error-free resume.

3. Keep in mind Honesty is the best policy

This step is considered as the most important and valid step to abstain from resume writing mistakes.

In the tech world of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, anything can be authenticated by calls, clicks and many other ways. At present, words travel with a speed of light. So make sure whatever you write is 100% real.

4. Stick to 2-page resume, that's all

It's not mainly about how much information you put on your resume. It's typically about featuring your best stuff to seek the eye of the recruiter for saying Hello!!! I am the perfect candidate who can add value to your company, so consider me and schedule a phone interview with me!!! Many recruiting professionals and hiring managers state that a resume that is too long(more than two pages )is not appealing. So writing a long resume is also an essential resume mistake to avoid.

5. Typos or grammatical errors can cost you a job.

Read, thorough read and proofread your resume one more time instead of submitting resumes with mistakes to employers. Incorrect information like an outdated phone number or wrong employment details on a resume is even worse than resume grammar mistakes or typo. Make sure you read your resume almost 5-7 times before submitting it. Ask your family member or friend to go through your resume to see if it is error-free or not. Also, you can check your resume on Grammarly to correct grammatical mistakes.

6. Afraid to show personality

Many individuals hesitate to reveal their personality or character through resumes since they prefer not to impede their odds of being a strong and successful candidate for a job. Organizational culture comes from recruiting people that mostly share identical interests. Revealing your character through resume will help employers determine whether you're a perfect match for their company. Make the hiring manager's job easier by promoting your rare self!

7. Using Keywords Can Make A Difference

Have you ever heard that many employers make use of the Applicant Tracking System to select a resume? It's human resource software where your resume will pass through a system to identify whether you are likely to fit for the job role based on a keyword. Utilizing unique keywords for a particular job is essential in the tech age. Make sure you also use relevant keywords in your resume profile summary section to get noticed quickly.

8. Employment gaps with no relevant explanation

Unexplained employment gaps in your resume look suspicious, and an interviewer will definitely want to know about them. It is sometimes necessary to take a career break for any reason(personal or professional). It's always better to mention it in your resume and be honest about it. Just specify that either you devoted some time for further studies, enhancing your skillset, were travelling or were on medical leave. By determining the resume gap, you will come one step closer to your job as it will reveal your strengths of being honest about yourself.

9. You have an objective or statement of purpose.

If you have applied for a specific job by submitting your error-free resume, it is understood to the hiring manager that your objective is to get selected for the interview and receive an offer letter.

So, you don't have to take up valuable space to mention resume objective, since it is automatically implied. If you want to use it, you can instead switch to a profile summary on the resume top. But make sure resume summary should be one or two-line paragraph that shows what you have achieved and who you are as a professional.

This section will boost your chances that a recruiter or the hiring manager keeps on reading your resume till the end.

10. Do make a section to add social links.

This section is an essential section of resume writing, but mostly ignored and ends as common resume mistakes.

a) Firstly with social links, the recruiter will visit your social media profile (LinkedIn, especially). So, by including your social profile link, you make it simpler for them by ensuring they don't confuse another person with you.

b) Secondly, it shows how active you are on social media in any industry discussions.

The primary purpose behind it is that you incorporate professional information, such as any project (completed or undertaking). It also demonstrates your involvement level in your professional career.

Tip:

But, remember; do not include any private account links such as Instagram or Facebook.

Final notes

1. Be clear about what you serve as a platter in your resume to get selected.

2. Before creating a resume, keep it in mind to make it simple, and employers can quickly scan it.

3. Place the crucial details (experience, skillset) on the top as Resume headline so that recruiters see it first.

4. Promote so confidently by showing what you can accomplish for the company if given a chance once.