The Resume: Things to Avoid

Featuring Sarah and Noelle’s biggest pet peeves, based on real experiences with resumes.

Spelling errors: One spelling mistake? Understandable. Two spelling mistakes? Your thorougness is starting to get questioned. Three or more? According to Todd and Brown, your resume is getting thrown out.

Putting personality traits under “skills”: “Being punctual is not a skill, it’s being an adult!” says Todd. Other things that have no place in this section include: “works well with others,” “good attitude,” and “deep thinker.” Save them for the interview.

Not being aware of the culture of that particular workplace: Allow me to explain that broad statement. What is meant by that is listing religious affiliation, political parties or anything else that may touch on a strong difference of opinions. Todd said that using a phrase such as “winning others for Christ” may be a bit polarizing, particularly if you are looking to get into a more corporate field. Always be mindful where there will be a crossroad of people’s opinions…and leave those opinions off your resume.

Starting to resume-build too late: Don’t just do things senior year, or you will be too late. Start building your resume with activities and volunteer/work experience earlier rather than later. “Your resume is a document that grows with you,” said Todd. “It will help to start one early in your college career.”

Listing personal hobbies: File this one in the “Save it for the Interview” category, and under the subheading “Things to Bring Up Only if They Ask.” Resumes are about things that will be relevant to the field you are applying for, and hobbies take away space from those things.