10 Resume Myths

10 resume myths

Anyone on the job hunt knows that having a great resume is an absolute essential. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there about what it takes to craft an ideal resume. This article will dispel ten of these myths and will arm you with the correct information in creating a resume that will make you stand out among a sea of applicants.

Myth #1: Grade point average is a major consideration for employers

While having a strong GPA is important if you’re applying for grad school, most employees don’t pay special attention to it for several reasons. Although some applicants with high GPAs did well on the majority of their required and non-required courses, some took a lot of easy courses to pump up their GPA, and some had high scores in courses related to their major but their GPA dropped as a result of taking non-major related but required courses. Thus, GPA isn’t exactly a clear indicator of potential job performance or intellectual prowess. Especially if you’ve been in the working world for a few years anyways.

Myth #2: Resumes should only be one page long

Unless you are a recent graduate without a lot of work experience, it is perfectly fine to have a two page resume if you need the extra page to include relevant information such as work experience or relevant achievements, memberships or extracurricular activities. If you’ve been working for 20 years professionally, you’d expect to see more than 1 page.

Myth #3: Achievements should be listed separately

To ensure that the recruiter or hiring manager reading your resume will notice your achievements, it is better to showcase them in relevant sections with bullet points instead of lumping them all in one section that might be overlooked.

Myth #4: You should list your entire work history on your resume

If your first jobs were things like hot dog stand vendor or movie theater attendant and the job you are applying for has nothing to do with these things, you would do well to leave them out. Also, if you have 10-15 years of experience, you can feel free to leave out old internships, unless you want to mention them because of their clout.

Myth #5: Keep your resume content general

A general resume is more likely to get lost in the shuffle. If you target and customize your resume to the job you’re applying for you, have a much greater chance of securing an interview and possibly landing the job.

Myth #6: Paper resumes alone are just fine.

These days, LinkedIn is a major game-changer in the area of hiring. If you don’t yet have one, make one. If you do, make sure to update it and clean it up – a professional profile is essential. Additionally, LinkedIn allows you to post your resume and some employers might prefer just having to click a link rather than open up an attached document. Another plus is that many online job applications give you the option of uploading or attaching your LinkedIn profile, saving you time when applying to several positions.

Myth #7: Avoid social media info

Like with LinkedIn, most employers are looking up the social media pages of potential employees, so including this information can be helpful (provided that your page is professional.) It also gives the impression that you have nothing to hide.

#8: Some white lies on your resume are acceptable

Overstating or embellishing your accomplishments, no matter how small is not a smart move in an age when nearly anything can be verified online. Employers place a high importance on integrity and honesty and many employers also hire out firms to verify credentials listed on an applicants resume.

Myth #9: Send a PDF instead of a Microsoft Word document

This seems like a reasonable idea since some employers using Macs may not be able to open an MS Word file, but PDFs aren’t a great option for another reason. Job boards and tracking systems use keyword scanning software and submitting a PDF can cause the system to miss these keywords and thus render your resume invisible. Send both a MS Word file and a PDF to be safe.

Myth #10: No one is going to notice typos or grammatical errors, so don’t worry about them

People do notice these things, so it’s very important that you double check anything you send out and have a friend or two read over it to see if there is something you might have overlooked. If the person reading your resume happens to place a lot of importance on grammar and proper spelling, then your resume might make you seem careless and unqualified for the job. Attention to detail is important!

There you have it! 10 resume myths dispelled. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us or check out our resume writing services to help you reach the top of the stack!

 

This entry was posted in English Posts and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • Connect With Us

    Connect With Us Twitter Facebook
  • Get Help With...

  • Have a Question?

  • We Accept...

    We Accept