Why Your Resume May be Ignored
Reasons why you resume can be ignored.
Graham Wynn, Founder and Director of Superior People Recruitment, has spent more than 10 years looking at candidate resumes and has seen a shift in the requirements of employers and what they are looking for on resumes, over the last few years. There are a number of ways to present a resume, but there are some key elements you must include (or not include) if you are to be offered an interview. Missing these elements will potentially mean employers and recruiters will simply ignore your resume.
Incomplete dates
It is important to show compete dates of your working history. Simply stating 2018-2019 means you could have worked for an employer for 2 days or 2 years. The exact date may not be necessary, but certainly the month and year are important for the hirer to consider the experience gained.
Social media
Every recruiter / hirer looks at your social media pages. If there are images or posts that you think may impact on what a perspective employer would think, then keep your pages private. If you keep your social media pages open to public viewing, then every employer / recruiter will view these, as they are allowed to, and will potentially make decisions on your suitability for a position, based on images and postings.
Photos
If you do decide to put your photo on your resume, then keep it professional, a head and shoulder image only. I have received a resume with full page photo of female in a bikini on a beach, or as though a wind machine going as their hair blows ala model images. These are inappropriate and you run the risk of being interviewed, or not being, based on this picture. I did come across a case where a young male recruiter from another agency, would simply interview females who put photos on their resumes, and he thought they were attractive so wanted to meet them. On the other hand I came across a younger female recruiter who would not interview females if she thought they were very attractive. So if you do decide to use a photo on your resume be cautious.
Gaps on resumes
If the reason you left a role is legitimate such as redundancy, leaving to start a family, caring for ill family members etc., then those should be stated on your resume. Gaps are one of the worst things an employer likes to see, as he has no idea why you left a role, and this puts doubts in his mind about your stability in the workforce.
Standard font
Keep fonts the same on every page. Do not use bullet points as numeric on one page, and * on another age. Consistency in set out of resume shows a clear attention to detail.
Spelling
Biggest downfall on resumes and cover letters is spelling mistakes. Most recruiters will ignore resumes or cover letters with spelling errors, as again, shows attention to detail and this goes for grammar as well. Even though you could spell words correctly, you may have used the wrong word (there, their, etc) Attention to detail on resumes is critical.
Location
Where do you live? An employer / recruiter may not need your exact address, but a suburb is important. If the person reading your resume has no idea what area you live in, how can he make a decision on your suitability with regards to travel time etc? Job seekers say they may be happy to travel, but employers will make the decision as to whether they feel a persons location is suitable for the workplace to be able to easily get to and from.
Phone number
Make sure your mobile number is not only clearly shown on your resume, but also ensure it is correct. Too often we try to contact a job seeker, only to discover the mobile phone number on their resume is incorrect.
Email address
If you do not have a professional email address, then get one. They are free with Gmail. If we receive resumes from candidates with an inappropriate email address, these will generally be ignored.
Templates
Be careful when using templates when applying for jobs. I have many times received a cover letter which starts “Dear Mary” or similar, and I am definitely not called Mary and this again goes to attention to details Such errors will make an employer / recruiter disregard your application.
Remember. The main purpose of your resume is to leave the hirer / recruiter with a clear picture of your work background and history, and for them not to have to ask questions based on your resume. If they are unable to ascertain a clear picture from your resume, and this leaves them with too many unknowns, they are unlikely to pick up the phone and call you.