The 5 resume red flags that you MUST avoid

Writing your very first resume for the job of your dreams will feel like a thrilling adventure. However, like in all adventures, there are a few hidden pitfalls that you must avoid on this journey to ensure your success. Today, we will talk about five resume red flags that you absolutely must avoid.

1. The Cryptic Code Master

Imagine you are a hiring manager and you receive a cover letter from a young professional claiming to be the best fit for the role. The cover letter is intriguing enough, and you open the resume expecting some amazing results, only to be bombarded with a bunch of words like "synergy," "ideation," and "blue-sky thinking." Your next move surely would be to discard the resume in the trash. Hiring managers don’t want to decipher secret codes when they review a resume. Avoid using jargon in your resume and use clear wording to explain your achievements to the reader.

2. The Job Hopper Extraordinaire

If your resume looks like a shopping list of jobs with a 2-month stint in a department store here and a 3-month temp job in a factory, you are setting yourself up as the perfect job hopper. Hiring managers, or any managers in general, do not like job-hoppers. If your resume does not do justice to your short-lived jobs or your career history, you need to rewrite it. Frequent job-hopping can be downplayed on your resume by highlighting longer jobs and omitting older job entries.

3. The Font Fiasco

Does your resume look like a ransom note written with newspaper cutouts? It could be if you use five different fonts. When writing a resume, always stick to one or two professional fonts. This means you must avoid Comic Sans, Papyrus, and any other font that screams children’s cartoon instead of a professional resume. A consistent font throughout your resume gives you a more put-together appearance in the reader’s mind.

4. The Ghost of Skills Past

The skills section is the best place in your resume to show how you possess a unique set of abilities that sets you apart from the competition. It is also a chance for you to incorporate a good number of keywords into your resume. However, you must be careful when creating the key skills section of your resume. Listing outdated professional skills or basic job skills as your biggest professional strengths will portray you as a weaker candidate compared to the competition. It is important that you show the employer how you have kept in touch with industry trends by updating your skill set through the years.

5. The TMI Chronicles

One thing you must keep in mind when writing your resume is that you are creating a tailored job search document, not a memoir of your entire career. Sharing personal information on your resume is just as bad as sharing too little information about your work history. You don’t have to make your resume a boring list of facts, either. Incorporating an interesting but relevant fact about your career, such as a lengthy volunteer job as a teacher in Thailand or an innovative energy project you handled, can help you leave a lasting impression in the hiring manager’s mind.