12 Reasons Your Resume May Have Been Overlooked

12 Reasons Your Resume May Have Been Overlooked Image via https://pixabay.com 1. The Formatting is Off While it may seem simple, ensuring that your resume is formatted properly is essential when applying for jobs. Making a simple mistake in the formatting can make you seem unprofessional or careless to the person evaluating your application. If a recruiter looks at your resume and sees sloppy or odd formatting, they may simply move on without even reading what it says. Make sure that, above all, your resume is consistent. The font should be the same throughout, and the font size should be consistent as well. Double-check that the spacing is the same within each line of each section, and keep the margins on either side of the page even. Before you send your resume off to a recruiter, print it out so that you can see it on paper, as this will help you identify any mistakes and ensure that it looks neat. 2. It Looks Unprofessional While you do want your resume to stand out, make sure that your accomplishments are what creates this effect, rather than trying to catch a recruiter’s eye with a funky font or a bright color. You should always type up your resume in a professional font and a dark color. Make sure that you keep your language professional as well. Your resume is not the place to use contractions or slang. If you’re worried that some of the language used on your resume is too casual, try asking a friend to read it over, as they’ll be able to give you a fresh perspective and may spot some issues that you overlooked. 3. You Focus on Common Characteristics While certain characteristics, such as being responsible and organized, are important for most jobs, they’re also probably the most common qualities that applicants put on their resumes. No matter how true they are for you, they probably won’t make your resume stand outâ€"in fact, they may cause your resume to be overlooked because recruiters won’t see anything in your resume that they can’t find elsewhere. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to include these typical characteristics on your resume, make sure that you also emphasize some qualities that make you unique. For instance, if you feel like you work particularly well with others or feel like you stand out in the direct way that you deal with people, these would be good characteristics to work into your resume so you won’t be overlooked. Infographic by Christine Ascher Whenever you’re applying to a bunch of jobs at the same time, especially during the school year when you’re busy with schoolwork, it can be tempting to just send out the same resume to every job that you apply for. However, in many cases, this is a mistake and can cause your resume to be overlooked, as it may not seem to relate directly to the job at hand. While similar positions may require a similar background and strengths, every company nevertheless looks for different qualities in their employees. 5. You’re Not Using Specifics Simply listing your past accomplishments on your resume may cause your application to be overlooked by a recruiter. If you’re not including specifics on your resume, then you’re probably not standing out. After all, a recruiter may not know what a big deal it was for you to win a certain award unless they know details such as how big the pool of candidates was and how many people are typically chosen for the award. You always want to include specific numbers and statistics on your resume when describing your past responsibilities as well; for instance, rather than just stating that you tutored students, write how many students you’ve helped and include a specific example of how much one of your students was able to improve their grade with your help. Putting these specific details on your resume will give a recruiter a much better idea of what your capable of, and will keep them interested as they’re able to fully understand the accomplishments that you’re most proud of. 6. It Seems Unfocused                                                                                                                                                               One common mistake that students make on their resumes that can cause it to be overlooked is including as many positions and accomplishments on it as they can, whether or not they’re truly relevant to the job that they’re applying for. While it may be tempting, especially for a college student who doesn’t have a ton of past experience to choose from, to include everything that you can think of on your resume, it’s far more important that your resume is tailored to the specific field that you’re interested in. If your resume seems scattered, a recruiter may think that you’re not truly interested in that area, but are merely submitted resumes everywhere to see if anything works. Though, of course, it’s not a bad thing to have a diverse range of experiences and interests, make sure that it’s clear what your main area of focus is on your resume. If you do have to include some experience in a different area, make sure you highlight how the skills that you gained from that position can translate into this new field. 7. You Don’t Explain the Purpose of Your Past Responsibilities Another common resume mistake that can cause your resume to be passed by is the failure to highlight the importance of your responsibilities in past positions. Simply listing your duties in past jobs doesn’t make much of an impression on recruiters, as it doesn’t show them the significance of what you were doing. If you explain the purpose of each of your responsibilities, they’ll get a better idea of the significance of your role, as well as your overall purpose in that role. For instance, if you spoke to customers over the phone in a past job, include a statement of purpose after describing that responsibility, such as “to ensure customer satisfaction.” In addition to highlighting the importance of what you did, this will also show recruiters that you were aware of the bigger picture in your past jobsâ€"in other words, rather than being focused only on your own job, you understood how your role contributed to the more general success of the company. 8. It’s Confusing Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to evaluate your own writing from an objective standpoint. As a result, sometimes a description that makes perfect sense to you can leave a recruiter confused. Especially if you’re used to working in a certain job where you may have used a specific software or had unusual responsibilities, a recruiter may have trouble understanding exactly what you’re trying to say when you describe your duties. Try to read your resume from the perspective of an outsider to see if it would make sense to someone else reading it for the first time. It can also be a huge help to have a friend read over your resume to let you know whether or not it seems clear to them. Because recruiters tend to receive a large volume of applications, they’re probably not going to take the time to decipher what you’re trying to say if they don’t understand something on your resume; instead, they’ll just move on. For this reason, it’s essential to make sure that y our writing is clear and easy to understand for an outsider. 9. It’s Unbalanced One thing to keep in mind when working on your resume is that you don’t want it to appear too heavily slanted towards your academic achievements or professional experiences. Instead, you want to show that you have excelled in both of these areas. If you dedicate a lot of space on your resume to your academic achievements, but fail to highlight your work experience, for instance, a recruiter may assume that you don’t have valuable work experience. Conversely, if you have a wide range of work experience on your resume but don’t mention much in the way of academics, someone looking over your resume may think that you’re leaving off academic information for a reason. Most recruiters are looking for someone who has done well in school, as this shows them that you’re hard-working, and who has work experience, as this shows them that you can do well in a professional environment. For this reason, having a resume that focuses all on one area and neglects the other can cause your re sume to be overlooked. Image via https://pixabay.com 10. The Experience You’re Listing Isn’t Recent While most college students only have a limited amount of experience to highlight on their resume, given that they’re relatively new to the working world, it’s still a good idea to keep in mind that the experience you should list on your resume should be recent. In other words, if you’re listing positions that you occupied before starting college, that may cause a recruiter to pass on your resume as they might believe that you haven’t been trying to gain new work experience more recently. Though the most important thing to keep in mind when listing work experience on your resume is its relevance to the position in question, it’s also a good idea to make sure that you’re focusing on the more recent jobs you’ve hadâ€"especially as they’re probably better than the ones you had in high school or early on in your undergraduate career. 11. You Don’t Highlight What Makes You Unique While you don’t want your resume to be too crazy, it is a good idea to highlight some characteristics that make you unique and can set you apart from other applicantsâ€"otherwise, a recruiter will have no reason to pause and take a second look at your resume. Including a section for additional skills is a great place to let your unique talents shine, so make sure you don’t leave it off. If you speak a second language, excel in a certain sport, or play a musical instrument, for instance, these are great things to mention on your resume. While they may not necessarily translate into skills for the job that you’re applying for, they’ll give a recruiter an idea of your interests and hobbies outside of the workplaceâ€"which will, in turn, give them a better idea of what you might be like to work with, which another important part of the hiring process. 12. The Address on Your Resume Doesn’t Match the Location of the Job Though you may be perfectly willing to move to a new city for a job or internship, a recruiter won’t necessarily know this when going through your application. As a result, if you’re applying for jobs far away from where you currently live, a recruiter may overlook your resume simply because they’re not sure how realistic it is to expect you to move. For this reason, when you’re applying for jobs that would require you to move cities, make sure you mention somewhere in your application, perhaps in your cover letter, that you’re okay with relocating. That way, a recruiter will understand the situation and won’t pass over your resume simply due to your location. Your resume is probably the most important part of your job application, as it gives a recruiter their first impression of your personality, experiences, and strengths. Getting your resume just right is therefore crucial. Make sure that you read it over several times before sending it out, and that you take some time to address the potential issues listed above in order to ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward when applying for those jobs.