Signs of a Bad Resume
By Caileen Kehayas
Legend has it that a recruiter may only spend six seconds looking at a resume before she finds a reason to cast it aside. It is widely believed that a candidate should know how to write a resume in order to catch a recruiter’s eye. Therefore, if it does not pass the six second test, it is deemed unworthy.
While this practice is not exactly advisable (and may cause recruiters and hiring managers to miss out on potentially great candidates), there are ways to recognize a resume that is just plain bad.
Huge or Frequent Gaps in Employment
This can be a pretty big warning sign if a candidate is not upfront with an explanation. While a large time gap can signify a career or life change, frequent gaps in employment are more of a red flag.
Changing jobs frequently or having gaps in between many jobs often leads to a candidate who is unreliable or, to put it frankly, unemployable. A reliable employee will spend at least a year at any place of employment. If a resume is showing several three, four or five month stints at different places, this may be a resume (and a candidate) to cast off to the side.
No Concentrated Experience
Imagine that you are hiring for an experienced administrative assistant. You may find an applicant who graduated from a great school and has lots of experience. There is only one problem; the experience is all over the place.
A great candidate, however, will be able to connect all relevant experience to the job at hand. If a candidate uses her resume to relate her experiences and duties at other positions in a creative (and relevant!) manner, consider taking the next steps with this applicant.
Resume is Too Long / Resume is Too Short
There are many opinions on what is “the perfect” length of a resume. Some argue that a resume should never ever be longer than one page, period. Others argue that a resume should include all relevant information within the last 10-15 years. There is yet another subsect that will argue (yes, argue!) that all experience should be included.
Let’s face it, though. No recruiter wants to dig through a five page resume. Conversely, a resume in 24 point Helvetica taking up half a page is simply not going to cut it. If a candidate cannot fill a page with experience, she simply may not be cut out for the job.
A worthwhile applicant will be able to balance relevant work and life experience in a resume that ideally will not exceed two pages. Moreover, the information will be balanced, relevant and include experience that occurred within this century (Yes, 1999 was almost 20 years ago, guys!)
Spelingg Errors
How annoying is that header? Up until now, this article had been pretty informative and useful, but now you have that eyesore that ruins the whole thing!
Spelling errors are just plain lazy. A resume is going to the first thing a prospective employer sees; any applicant should read it once, twice and three times out loud. An applicant who sends a resume out with a spelling error clearly lacks attention to detail. That might be reason enough to throw that resume straight in the trsah.
Distracting Graphics
There was certainly a movement for zazzy resumes with fonts, colors, graphics and charts. While there are certainly still graphic design and other creative positions that will welcome a carefully crafted and designed resume, most recruiters don’t care anymore.
What do recruiters care about? Readability. Being busy people, 88% of recruiters view resumes on their mobile devices. To that end, it is crucial that a resume be produced in high contrast with good formatting and an easy-to-read font. Save the calligraphy for your wedding invitations!
In Conclusion
A resume is a very important document in the hunt for a job. While it is not crazy to expect a resume to arrive in perfect form, there can be exceptions. A recruiter can probably always find a reason to deny a candidate, but is it a good enough reason to ignore an otherwise adequate applicant?
What would be your resume dealbreakers? Please share in the comments!
Your Social Management Guys
We won't just do social media strategies. Social Hire will work collaboratively with your team to ensure your business gets genuine value from us and that your team gets the most out of the service. Our experienced social media managers are motivated to make a enhancements to your social media marketing and reaching targets in a way that realistically makes a difference to your business goals.
Our digital marketing managers are the wizards that can give you the insight you need to grow your business. Have you had enough of making difficult personnel choices that don't work well for your online marketing?
Is it important to you to increase the digital footprint of your business by utilising online promotion, but can't work out how to begin?With the professional understanding of our digital experts working in your business, you can begin to see interaction, brand loyalty and enquiries get better without having to take your team out to spend time on ineffective marketing strategies, or spend money on a internal marketing manager with a view to get results that may not deliver!
The social media marketers in our company are the best in the business at helping our partners enhance their online marketing. We outline and implement cutting-edge social media marketing plans that help our customers realise their organisational objectives and further their social media presence. Our experienced team of digital experts do your social media strategy creation and management in an uncomplicated monthly plan that is cost-effective and is genuinely useful, whatever results you demand from your marketing team.
Our specialists are a company that assists our customers further their presence online by giving online marketing on a regular basis.
You might like these blog posts 4 Ways Online Surveys Can Help Your Marketing Campaign, The Employee Engagement Trends You Need to Know [Infographic], Small Businesses: Don’t Fear the Gig Economy, and Four Common Instagram Myths for Business.
