Most recruiters spend barely 30 seconds—a study claims this time is as little as 7 seconds—on a resume, so you need to make it as attractive as you can. Also, make sure it is free of flaws since typos and errors are big reasons for rejections. A typo in your resume indicates poor attention to detail and may cost you a coveted shortlist.
2. Lying about skills
Another common mistake is lying about skills, experience or falsifying other details on the resume. Any mismatch in the details on your resume and actual qualification is also undesirable. When a candidate is shortlisted, a company inevitably runs a verifi cation check. If they spot a discrepancy, you are unlikely to get an interview call.
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3. Objective statement
Avoid adding an objective statement to your bio-data. It is redundant since your objective is evident from your application for the vacancy. If you are keen to demonstrate relevance for the job, show it in the cover letter or use 3-4 lines of professional summary at the top of your resume, under work experience, without a separate heading.
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4. Templated cover letter
Don’t send out the same cover letter and resume to all potential employers. Your resume and the cover letter should be relevant to the role, company and industry that you are applying to. The cover letter should speak to the person and try to convince him why your qualifications make you the perfect fi t for the role. Don’t let it appear like a copy-paste job.
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5. Rework the draft
No writer types out the perfect draft in one sitting. Words should not be sacrosanct. Like every piece of published authorship that goes through multiple re-writings and editorial inputs, your resume needs to be reworked with inputs from friends/ professionals before finalising.
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(The writer is a career coach, mentor and the author of Yoursortinghat.com)
