Resume Basics: What NOT To Do

Any recruiter looks at dozens of resumes on a daily basis. That being said, there are always some that stand out, and not always for the right reasons.

Your resume is a piece of paper that, quite literally, tells the story of you as an employee. If should paint a picture of what you’re good at, the type of employee you are, and why you would be good for whatever job you’re presenting it for. For all of these reasons and more, it should be as close to perfection as possible.

Every recruiter and business is different, but there are a few examples that usually result in an automatic “no” for just about any place you go. In her article, Lily Herman highlights a few. We’ve listed our favorites below:

• It’s REALLY long: Unless you’re a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience, your resume really shouldn’t be more than a page long. Up to two pages is acceptable, but any more than that is too much. Each version of your resume should be tailored to the job you’re applying for, so keep this in mind when you’re trying to parse it down. Remove things that aren’t totally relevant to the job.
• All the effort is in the styling: A resume with four different fonts, font sizes, headers, images, etc. doesn’t send the right message. It says to the recruiter that you put more effort into how the resume looks, than what’s actually on it. Using multiple fonts is a big no, and is almost never appropriate.
• It doesn’t tell your story: Think of your resume like story called Why I Would Be Good At This Job. If the resume isn’t telling that story, then there is something fundamentally wrong.