3 Common Resume Mistakes That Get You in the Toss Pile — The HBCU Career Center

One of the best ways to secure an interview is to have a strong resume. An excellent resume should detail relevant work experiences, education, and skills that make you the right candidate for a job. If you’re applying to hundreds of jobs and not receiving a callback from a recruiter or hiring manager, your resume may need some updates. 

Here are three common resume mistakes that affect your chances of landing an interview.

Not including irrelevant work experience

If you’re applying for a project coordinator role, it’s best to leave off your time working as a cashier at Walmart during high school. When you’re resume doesn’t reflect any of the requirements for the position, the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) resume scanner or recruiter will likely toss it out. As you apply for different roles, edit your resume to include work experiences that share similar responsibilities to the position.

Listing duties rather than accomplishments

Your resume is a way to brag about yourself professionally. However, when you only list your previous job’s responsibilities, you miss an opportunity to showcase your career successes. One way to do this is to include numbers as measurable achievements in your career. For example, if you were previously a social media manager, instead of saying you “scheduled engaging posts three times a week,” switch it out with “increased the company’s Instagram followers by 80%.” 

Several grammatical errors

An easy way to get your resume ignored is not to complete a thorough grammar check. While your experience may seem incredible, you could be missing several typos, have incorrect sentence structures, or it could be in an improper format. To ensure your resume is top-notch, have someone review your resume before beginning the job hunt. In addition, you can hire a resume writer or visit your school’s career center to get additional help crafting your resume. At The HBCU Career Center, we offer free resume feedback, which you can learn more about here.

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