5 mistakes we make on a resume, according to Google HR

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

A Google HR manager posted on his blog about the most common mistakes job candidates make on their resumes. It is very easy to fix them!

On his LinkedIn page, Google VP of hiring Laszlo Bock wrote a note about the most common mistakes applicants make on their resume. He also talks about how to fix them. There are many useful tips in this post, and we decided to share them with you.

I recently calculated how many resumes I viewed in my career at Google - about 20,000, and up to 50,000 emails from candidates come to Google every week.

Some of them are pretty good, some are mediocre, some are just awful. The most interesting thing is that for 15 years now I have seen the same mistakes in my resume. Worst of all, sometimes these mistakes are made by really interesting and worthwhile candidates. But we cannot afford to compromise and more often than not, we reject a resume, even with the smallest errors.

I decided to list the five most common mistakes, and it is in your best interest to get rid of them.

Errors

A 2013 study by CareerBuilder found that 58% of resumes contain spelling and punctuation errors. 58%! This is more than half!

How to fix? After carefully reading the summary, reread it again, but from the bottom up. This way you can focus on each line of text individually.

Length

There is an unspoken rule:

One resume page for every 10 years of experience.

Can't cram all your merit into one page? Well, the bad news is that almost no one reads a three or four page essay intently. Pascal once said: "I would write a shorter letter, but I just don't have time." A clear and concise resume demonstrates your ability to express yourself clearly and only share the most useful information about yourself.

Think about this: The main purpose of your resume is to get invited for an interview. Everything. This is just a tool to give you a chance to tell more about yourself. Therefore, as soon as you are in the interview, you can tell whatever you want about yourself, and it is better to shorten your resume.

Formatting

Unless you're trying to get a job as a designer or artist, try to keep your resume simple and readable. The font size is at least 10 points. One and a half interval. White paper, black font color. See how the file is shown in Word and Google Docs, and if everything is OK, then submit. You can also format the file to PDF, so you can be sure that the text formatting will not go wrong.

Disclosure of confidential information

One day I received a resume in which the candidate said that he was "consulting for a large IT corporation in Redmond." Such resumes are immediately rejected. You can't look for a line between not disclosing confidential information and showing yourself in a good light. Despite the fact that this candidate did not mention Microsoft, everything was clear.

Approximately 5-10% of resumes contain confidential information or hints at it. No employer wants this information to be disclosed, so you will most likely not be hired. Do a little test on your resume:

If you don't want your resume to be on the front page of the newspaper and your ex-boss read it, then you better fix it.

Lie

There are only problems from lies:

You can easily be exposed. The Internet, acquaintances, a former employer - they all can tell that you did not study perfectly well, you do not have a red diploma, and in general, you were not a director, but a junior sales manager.
She will haunt you. Imagine that the lie will be revealed 15 years later when you are promoted.
Your parents didn't teach you that.

These are the five most common mistakes. HR managers are looking for the best people, and in most cases, if you admit one of them, you will not be hired. However, there is some good news! Since these are the most common resume mistakes, the only way you can stand out from the resume stream is to get rid of them.