- Ethan Evans states that resumes frequently fall short by enumerating activities rather than highlighting impactful outcomes.
- Recruiters scan resumes rapidly, hence clear and concise documents are essential for success.
- You should accurately outline your educational background and qualifications, and add details about your hobbies and interests.
I’ve reviewed more than 10,000 résumés and conducted more than 2,500 interviews in my career as a VP at multiple companies,
including Amazon
.
I handled recruitment at three startup companies, and currently, I guide individuals through their job search processes. I am well-versed in what recruiters and hiring managers look for in a resume—and which errors might cause candidates to lose out on opportunities.
The issue and the objective
I frequently encounter six common errors. The initial trio tends to be the most harmful, and approximately ninety percent of resumes include at least one of these issues.
Recruiters and hiring managers face immense pressure and typically scan resumes at breakneck speed. It’s crucial that your resume is crafted to grab their attention swiftly. Ideally, they should glance over it and conclude that interviewing you could be valuable.
The following are the top three errors that might cause you to lose out on the position you’re applying for.
1. Nothing found, just actions
This is the most common mistake I see on résumés. People say they “wrote code,” “managed employees,” or “worked on X project.”
Seasoned performers, however, understand that their value lies in their influence and make sure to demonstrate the outcomes of their efforts.
You have the ability to revamp almost each point on your resume to highlight the impact of your contributions, demonstrating how your efforts positively influenced the team, improved products, and benefited the company’s financial performance.
Below are several tips to assist with accomplishing this:
- If feasible, include links to your accomplishments. Individuals often embellish or fabricate information on their resumes, yet nothing conveys “my work is genuine” better than a direct link to the project.
- Your gaze naturally gravitates towards the bold elements. Highlight certain words or phrases selectively to make sure your key achievements stand out.
- Utilize dynamic verbs such as “owned,” “constructed,” “operated,” or “transported.” This indicates that you were directly involved in an activity instead of merely observing it.
- Individuals often place trust in particular digits, such as monetary amounts. Whenever feasible, incorporate these figures into your communication.
2. No objective
If you lack a clear objective, a recruiter or hiring manager might have to speculate about your interest in the position. And if you’re a recruiter facing a stack of resumes, you won’t be inclined to spend time making guesses.
A clear objective outlines the type of position you seek in your upcoming employment, and an effective objective should be concise and straightforward enough to be grasped at a quick glance. Avoid describing yourself using overly personal language.
A representation of the equation for a senior engineering position could be, ”
Looking for a position as a Senior Engineer where I can utilize my verified capability in launching large-scale services to contribute meaningful innovations for the company.
”
The initial section merely indicates the position you’re aiming for. This becomes crucial especially if your desired role contrasts with what you did previously.
The latter section enables you to outline your most significant credentials for the position. Emphasize the primary factor that will make your resume get picked up for an interview.
The third section highlights your role as support both to the manager and the organization. Even though you might be seeking a rewarding position for yourself, the manager’s priority isn’t necessarily about offering an ideal job to another person. It’s important to communicate that your intentions extend beyond personal gain; you aim to contribute valuable assistance to your prospective supervisor.
Sure, please go ahead and share your objective from your executive coaching resume so I can help you with a paraphrased version.
Goal: Offer extensive professional growth opportunities, facilitating moves into executive leadership roles.
Demonstrated executive leadership across various
$500M+ businesses
Across various categories like games, videos, applications, and music. Experience with global leadership roles.
teams 800+
. Technical inventor;
60+ issued patents
.
3. Too many words
A lot of resumes tend to be lengthy, often extending beyond three pages or employing a minuscule font size just to fit everything onto one page.
The error lies in composing content based on what we wish to express instead of focusing on information crucial for the reader. These instances are termed as “pleasing phrases.” Such expressions emerge when a resume initiates with aspirational statements crafted by the applicant to highlight their perceived qualities. This often appears as follows:
A driven individual seeking a supportive setting where I can apply my technical expertise and enthusiasm to an important initiative. Known as a valuable teammate and guide. Flexible and quick to learn.
It’s common to wish to showcase our best qualities. However, managers who review numerous resumes each day tend to overlook this approach since it fails to demonstrate what the applicant is capable of doing.
The guideline to adhere to is “demonstrate, rather than explain.” Should you be someone who picks up new skills quickly, add bullet points to your resume highlighting this ability. Such as:
Gained knowledge of X and implemented it in project Y, progressing from initial attempt to delivering the product to customers within nine weeks.
Your resume should highlight your top three achievements for each position before the hiring manager. Writing excessively can cause them to overlook these key points. Ideally, maintain your resume length below 1,000 words.
I spent just two hours crafting my resume using Microsoft Word; this document spans 700 words over a 30-year professional journey.
After crafting a strong resume, watch out for these additional three errors prior to submitting your application for any position.
4. Enhancing Performance with the Application Tracking System
A lot of resumes attempt to fit in key terms at the beginning to get past the applicant tracking system. However, this strategy has two major issues.
More than 80% of job opportunities are offered to individuals who have a professional network link to the position. Concentrating on passing through the Applicant Tracking System implies you’re targeting roles where you lack such connections, thus putting yourself up against numerous competitors.
The second issue is that this renders the resume difficult for humans to read, and it hides your most significant achievements within the main content of the document.
The best strategy is to craft your resume with human readers in mind, followed by using your connections to ensure it reaches someone who will review it. Should you wish to incorporate keywords, place them towards the bottom of your resume under a “skills” section.
5. Placing educational qualifications and certifications in an incorrect section
For fresh graduates, the standard resume format involves placing your educational background at the beginning. However, if you possess relevant job experience, then your education section should appear beneath your work history.
A component of your educational background involves your GPA. Should you choose not to include this information, the reviewer might infer that it was unsatisfactory. It would be more advantageous to present it if you achieved above a 3.3.
Although you might consider omitting your GPA after being out of school for ten years, graduating with honors could make it worthwhile to retain indefinitely.
At the very end of your resume should be where you include most certifications. However, if you possess a crucial element such as security clearance or a required certification for the position you’re aiming for, these should be listed nearer to the beginning.
6. Leaving out leisure activities and passions
Ending your resume with brief details about your hobbies, charity work, and interests offers two advantages.
These hobbies make you more relatable. Should someone reach the end of your resume, they’ve definitely been captivated. Adding some personal details at the conclusion makes you stand out.
Secondly, when managers and recruiters reach out to you, they often seek conversation starters. They might share interests such as skiing or owning a dog, so mentioning similar activities can increase emotional connections and rapport.
Next steps
After you feel confident about your resume, avoid delaying further improvements by constantly refining it. Instead, concentrate on building connections to secure a strong recommendation for employment.
The final error I notice is applicants not utilizing their meticulously created resume vocabulary on LinkedIn effectively. To maximize your presence on LinkedIn, include your concise objective statement within the “About” part of your profile. Next, transfer your work bullet points into respective sections under “Work History.”
Update your educational details and additional information regularly so that recruiters can locate you even when you’re asleep.
Ethan Evans is a former Amazon VP who has more than 23 years of expertise in business management.
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