These terrifying things on your résumé will scare potential employers

Halloween is right around the corner and the sights and sounds of the season are fast approaching. Compiled below is a list of seven mistakes that job seekers make on résumés that can scare off a potential employer.

  1. Large gaps in your résumé: Leaving gaps in your employment history can leave a hiring manager with many questions. One of the worst things you can do is try to explain these gaps on your résumé. For example, if you were out of work for seven months, don’t put something like “took some time off” or “took care of ailing parent”. While those may be more than valid reasons for your time away from work, they are not needed on your résumé. Make your CV as chronological and professional as possible and explain the gaps if they are brought up in the interview.scared-people-haunted-house-nightmare-factory-04
  2. Having a poor objective: When you write your objective, try to demonstrate what value you can bring to the company you’re interviewing with. There is a science to this as you don’t want to be too specific or too vague. Be sure to make it accurate and meaningful. Here is an example of a good objective: “Marketing specialist with 6+ years of experience seeking to develop and grow sales leads through email marketing, social and online media”.
  3. Hopping from job to job without a reason for short employment: This will definitely scare off a hiring manager. If you worked a four-month contract, notate that. Short employment dates usually raise a red flag, but they can be explained. Remember, the goal of your résumé is to get an interview. Once you get in front of the interviewer, you can explain your short employment periods.
  4. Non-descriptive experience under companies: Your résumé’s sole purpose is to highlight what your professional experience has been at each company or organization you have worked for. How will a hiring manager really understand what you do and what value you can bring to their organization if your work experience is non-descriptive?
  5. Spelling/grammatical errors: These kind of errors can justify an immediate disqualification from the position you are interviewing for. 3coast has written about five common grammatical errors found on résumés and avoiding spelling mistakes in an article on how to create the winning résumé. Before you submit to the potential employer, have someone with a sound background in spelling and grammar proofread your résumé for you.

If you avoid these frightening mistakes, you should be in good shape and won’t scare away job opportunities. For more information on 3coast’s IT staffing services, visit 3coastresources.com.

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