A recruiter for a top tech company reviews hundreds of resumes every single day. If your resume contains a major red flag, it gets tossed out in less than 6 seconds. According to Nolan Church, a former Google recruiter and current CEO of Continuum, there are specific mistakes that will get you instantly rejected.
Here are the 7 most common resume mistakes you need to stop making immediately:
1. Using "Text Bricks" (Poor Formatting)
The biggest offense is sending a resume that is just a wall of text. “When I see a resume that looks like a novel, I’m instantly exhausted,” says Church. If your bullet points are 5 sentences long and there is no white space, the recruiter will not read it. Keep bullet points to 1-2 lines maximum.
2. Buzzwords Without Context
Words like "synergy," "team-player," "hard-worker," and "thought-leader" are empty. Unless you have quantifiable data to back up your claim, you are just wasting valuable real estate on the page.
3. Too Much Irrelevant Experience
If you are applying for a Senior Software Engineer position, the hiring manager does not care that you were a barista at Starbucks 10 years ago. Only include experience that directly relates to the job you are trying to get. If it doesn't add value, cut it.
4. Grammar and Spelling Errors
This sounds obvious, but it is the number one reason candidates get rejected. "If you can't take the time to proofread a one-page document that represents your entire professional career, why would I trust you to write code for our production servers?" one Amazon recruiter noted.
5. Overcomplicating the Design
Unless you are applying for a Graphic Design position, your resume does not need three columns, five different colors, and a headshot. The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) cannot parse complex designs. Keep it simple: black and white, standard fonts, single column.
6. Lacking Quantifiable Data
Did you lead a project? Great. What was the impact? "I want to see numbers," says Church. "Did you increase revenue by 20%? Did you reduce load time by 500ms? Did you manage a budget of $1M? Give me the math."
7. Lying or Exaggerating
Recruiters run background checks, and technical interviewers will grill you on every single bullet point you list. If you write that you are an "Expert in Python," you better be prepared to answer expert-level Python questions. Never exaggerate your skills.