5 mistakes that make your resume outdated

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Before sending your resume to a recruiter, check to see if it contains these errors. Otherwise, you risk looking like a real dinosaur.

Job seekers are remembered for wacky resumes more often than they would like. Often times, recruiters have to see completely outdated things like a landline number or a job seeker's physical address.

If you don't want to give the impression of someone from the past, avoid these mistakes.

1. Not a summary, but a poem

Of course, you want to include as much information as possible about yourself and your experience in your resume. But the key must be relevance.

You do not need to list all-all past jobs, starting from the moment when you moonlighted as a promoter during school holidays. The recruiter does not need this information to understand how well you can code or keep records.

2. Instead of experience - a list of tasks

Experts say that listing everything you did in your previous job on your resume is the last century. Brenda Collard-Mills, owner of resume writing firm Robust Resumes and Resources in Ontario, says it sounds like a cry of despair, not a resume.

She believes a modern resume should sell you, not display a job description. Focus on your experience and talents that can be of benefit to potential leadership. Establish yourself as "an energetic and assertive member of the sales club" or as "orchestrating cool events and social media campaigns." This will make it easier for the recruiter to see how fit you are for the position.

3. Instead of "zest" - mediocrity

If you focus on skills that are perceived as basic today, it means that you have not even tried to learn anything new.

Being able to work with Microsoft Office only says that you don't know about Google Docs.

Steve Gibson CEO of JotForm

The same goes for your typing speed. If it is not directly related to your future work, you do not need to write about it.

4. Instead of a portfolio - "examples on demand"

Adrienne Tom of Calgary-based Career Impressions says these words don't appear on a good resume. If you want to get a job, you should already have links to ready-made examples or recommendations.

5. Super secrecy

Not linking to social media profiles is a big mistake. Often recruiters, just by looking at your page, understand how much you fit for the chosen position.

If you don't link to your website, LinkedIn or Twitter profile, then you either don't know how to write a normal resume, or you don't understand anything about social networks. Both are useless.

John Boese Founder EliteHired.com