SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Job Interviews
Help Me Nail My Job Interview!
( 11 pages )

Resume Pet Peeves
(Things Recruiters Hate To See)

This may seem like an unimportant thing during an interview, but this is the sole reason why you may get that interview - so you should be prepared with a well written resume.

You should tailor your resume to highlight the qualifications, work experience and any education you’ve had that best represents the type of work you are applying for. You should also include any other work experience that you’ve had, as well as any accomplishments in your field.

You may also want to dress up your resume to let it stand out a bit. A nice border is an elegant way to make your resume stand out without being a distraction to the information within it.

Of course there also quite a few things that recruiters hate to see on resumes as well. Many people do not think that recruiters really go all the way through a resume, but they really do. Recruiters have certain pet peeves when it comes to reading a resume. I’ve included a list of some of the pet peeves that you should avoid when putting your resume together.

These are the things that recruiters hate to see.

• Hiding or not including vital information on a resume is like death. A recruiter needs to see all of your important information without having to search for it.
    
• Major gaps in your employment history leave a recruiter wondering about your work ethic. Be prepared to answer questions if you have such gaps in yours.
    
• Summaries that are hard to follow and understand are annoying to recruiters. Keep your summary easy and brief.
    
• Use easy and simple fonts. Fancy fonts and colors are not eye catching in the manner that you likely wanted it to be. Yours will become a how-to on making resume errors.
     
• Avoid writing your resume as a narrative or in the first or third person. It is really irritating for a recruiter, and comes off as arrogant and/or egotistical.
    
• Pictures and/or graphics on a resume is distracting to a recruiter. Things like that will likely get your resume tossed out without a glance.
    
• Needlessly adding objectives and introductions on your resume bores recruiters. They know what your objective is, and your resume is not meant to be a novel.
    
• Lying or putting misleading information on your resume is a major no-no. There are always ways for a recruiter to check up on you and many do, so don’t lie. Getting caught in a lie on a resume just says that you can’t be trusted.
    
• Adding unnecessary information on a resume like your hobbies is completely useless (unless it is relevant to the position you are applying for). You should save that section to describe any accomplishments that you have made in your field.
    
• Sending a resume that doesn’t match the type of job that you are applying for is extremely irritating to a recruiter. You are wasting their time.
    
• Using overly long paragraphs in a resume will get yours tossed aside. It is harder for the recruiter to read and makes the task take too long.
    
• Resumes that are more than two pages will not be fully read by a recruiter. That’s just the way it is.
     
• Dating the information in your work history in the wrong order makes your resume harder to follow. (Work history should be listed with most current jobs at the top)
    
• Resumes that have too much detail when talking about your previous duties are a waste of your time. Duties are generally just sifted through. They are rarely given very much attention, just enough to give the recruiter an idea of what you have done in the past.
    
• Spelling and grammatical errors just prove that you are not very keen on details.
  

Job Interview Do's and Don’ts

There are quite a few things that you should do and not do during an interview that could make the whole thing a lot more pleasant for both you and the interviewer. I have listed them quickly in the table below.

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