Today I’m focusing on three resume mistakes that are easily avoided—and all too common.
Resume Mistake 1: Too much capitalization
I often see this problem on technical resumes, where every noun from Customer to Technology is capitalized. Save capitals for proper names—official names and titles, like ABC Company versus “the company” or Southwest Regional Manager versus “the manager.”
Professional resume writers know that, if you capitalize every noun, pretty soon capitalization loses its power and also becomes very difficult to read. For example, consider how capitalizing every noun detracts from this sentence: “Directed Finance Functions for several Companies, including Cash Flow Management, by working closely with each Company’s CFO or SVP of Finance.” Moreover, you quickly lose track of which words you have capitalized, leading to inconsistency from one job description to the next.
Resume Mistake 2: Too many acronyms
You may have used an acronym for years (for example, HIPAA or APICS or VMS); but never known or forgotten what the initials stand for. You may have exchanged them inside your company for years, but never wondered if anyone outside your company uses the same acronyms in the same way. You may think that the National Organization of Antelope Habitats is abbreviated NOAH, but it is actually NOOAH.
When it comes to acronyms—in fact, when it comes to the entire resume—professional resume writers question everything and ask you to question everything. We always research and we never assume.
Resume Mistake 3. Depending too much on the computer
Whether you are depending on the computer for formatting, spell-checking or grammar-checking—take charge.
Professional resume writers know that computers get confused. You may have told the computer that every main heading should be bold, centered, in 10 point Ariel font; but then you will find one heading in 10.5 font or without bolding or with no centering. You may have run the spell-checker a dozen times, but the computer will still okay “revue” when you meant “revenue.” As for online grammar-checkers, any professional resume writer will tell you that they are worthless. Proof, re-proof and proof again manually and ask at least one other person to proof your resume for you.
One advantage of hiring a professional resume writer is that you are hiring someone who anticipates resume mistakes and knows how to correct them. I will work side-by-side with you, on the way to an error-free resume. Call me today.