There are countless articles and publications dedicated to teaching people how to write the perfect resume, one which perfectly showcases your strengths and adequately demonstrates your capacity for the job role in question. However it appears as though the old – and often hilarious – mistakes are still being made, despite all the free advice that is readily to hand. Recruitment agency IntaPeople recently shared some of their favourite CV blunders which were published on the RealBusiness website…
Don’t be Arrogant
Being able to tell an employer just how good you are at everything without coming off as arrogant is admittedly a tough task when writing a CV. IntaPeople had one client though who chose to insert an expanded picture of his face as the background image on every page of his resume and another who decided that his ‘key attributes’ included having ‘steely blue eyes’ and owning a BMW. Keep it on point people!
Read Carefully
Yes we should all check our spelling and grammar to avoid mistakes – such as was the case with another IntaPeople candidate who stated that ‘attention to detail is one of my key stremgths’. Deliberate mistakes too, are not received well – something that may have proved somewhat unfortunate for the candidate who submitted her resume entirely in capital letters.
Be Relevant
It is important to be able to cut out certain irrelevant credentials and interests – however impressive – to make your resume snappy and to-the-point. Choosing to include only the most essential qualifications for the job is difficult but you should certainly not state your favourite leisure activities such as ‘sun-tanning’. Additionally, stating ‘I am great with animals as I have three cats of my own and a hamster’ might not qualify as core skills…
These may be at the far end of the CV-blunder scale but it does still happen so remember, there’s never any harm in checking your CV twice before searching for a job and submitting an application!
Jamie Mistlin, RecruitmentRevolution.com – find me on Google+.
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