Resume MistakesAnd Why They Matter

Resume Mistakes Can Ruin A Career

Opportunity

People think we exaggerate when we say that resume mistakes kill your chances of an
interview or acceptance by a supervisor. The truth is more complicated than that simple
statement. Mistakes do kill resumes, but not for the reasons you might think. Before we
go into all of the details of why mistakes matter, lets look at a few of the more common
mistakes found on resumes.
Tense Issues
Its widely accepted that resumes should be written in the past tense. Some people write
their current position in the present tense and use past for all others. Thats fine. But
where people run into trouble is when they mix tenses.
Developed new process for incoming inspection that
Works with plant manager to develop

If you use past tense for one item, use it for all.

Wrong Words
One of the most common mistakes on resumes is the misuse of the word lead. Far too
many people use it in the past tense instead of led.
Initiated and lead the company-wide effort to develop the product definitions and
specifications.

The above sentence should have been, initiated and led the company-wide
Overuse of Capitals
This is a major problem on resumes and in cover letters also. Which of the following
statements have the correct capitalization? Do you know?
Vast experience working with Quality systems and Regulatory filings
Worked with Clinical, Regulatory, Marketing, and Operations managers to facilitate
Responsible for the execution of Process Qualifications/Validation protocols and reports.
Managed four Project Managers and a Project Coordinator.
Experience executive in the Medical Device and Diagnostic industries

The answer isnone of them. None of the words should have been capitalized except
the first word of each sentence.

Misuse of Semicolons
I see a lot of semicolons on resumes and in cover letters, and while I praise a
candidates bravery for using them, unfortunately most of them are used wrong. Here
are three basic rules for semicolon use.
1. To join two independent clauses that are closely related.
2. To separate lists that include commas.
3. To join two clauses using a conjunctive adverb.
Resumes are not complicated documents, and seldom require the use of a semicolon
with the exception of #2separating lists. If you learn these three rules, or at least that
one, you should be okay.

Common Typos
This is the worst of the worst. I know several supervisors and HR managers who will
trash a resume that has typos or spelling errors. Its easy to miss an error when
proofreading, but put yourself in the supervisors hiring managers shoes. Its easy to
miss any mistake.
What that means is if you cant be troubled to make sure your resume is perfect, how will
you make sure what you do for the company is perfect?
There Are Many Other Mistakes People
Make
I cited these five types as an example of the kind of mistakes people make, but there are
many. Any one of these might not be enough to send your resume to the trash or the to-
be-reviewed pile, but the cumulative effect can be devastating. Consider the fact that
the person screening the submissions might look through as many as 100 resumes per
day, and quite often more than that.
If the average resume has 5 mistakes, which tells you that some have more than 5 and
some fewer than 5. Youre not competing against the resumes with 10 or 12 mistakes;
youre up against the ones who have only 2 or 3, or possibly none.

This Isnt A Grammar Test
I know thats what youre thinking. That the company or research group isnt hiring a
grammarian, and youre right. They might be hiring a PhD student, or a customer service
rep, or an engineer, or an administrator for the new vice president. But the position
doesnt matter. For most positions, they will draw more than enough qualified resumes.
Quite often supervisor or HR will receive as many as 500 resumes for a good job. Of that
500, chances are 1020 will have the qualifications to be considered for the interview or
the next step.
But guess what?

They arent calling in 1020 people for an interview or writing proposal for higher study.
They might interview 4 or 5, possibly 6. Do you want to guess which resumes of that
bunch of 1020 will not get the interview? If qualifications are similarand they often
aremistakes become the deciding factor.

Bottom Line
Maybe It Is A Grammar Test After All

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Regards,
Imtiaz Madni.