2. You didn’t tell the reader your goal. Resume, cover letter or casual email—whatever the medium, you must give away your goal soon and succinctly, says Sharlyn Lauby, president of consulting firm ITM Group Inc. Lauby explains that if you’re applying for a marketing manager role but your resume is littered with —say, a short stint in as a in the fitness industry—you must find a way to make sure your marketing background shines so that the recruiter understands your ultimate goal.
3. You forgot to use keywords in your resume. We like to think a real, live human being reads every word of our carefully crafted resumes, but it just isn’t so. HR departments have keyword scanning software to sift through resumes, with the conventional thinking that if you aren’t really qualified, your resume won’t be full of relevant keywords. Be sure to include a small section near the top of your resume dedicated to keywords that reflect the skills you possess which also match the keywords in the job requirement.
4. Your resume isn’t readable. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it’s A-OK to have a two-page-long resume, Lauby says. What you don’t want is a sparse resume or one so mushed together—it’s no longer readable. That means having white space around the edge, using bullet points and simple fonts.
5. You left off your measurable accomplishments. Though it’s fine to share your responsibilities on your resume, that’s all it is: fine. If you doubled your clients in a year-long period or brought in additional revenue for your division, don’t be shy—put it down, in digits.
6. You referenced months rather than years. Remember that job you worked for eight months before running for the bigger-and-brighter hills? Don’t draw attention to it, List jobs by years, not months.
7. You didn’t use a professional email address. Is anyone really surprised when
cutiepatootie18@yahoo.com doesn’t get a callback? “I know this sounds like old advice, but I’m amazed at some of the non-business emails people use,” says Lauby. Consider using a common email provider, like Gmail. Some organizations might filter older providers straight to the junk mail folder.”
8. You didn’t say thank you. It demonstrates a higher interest level in the company than most applicants and could put you at the front of the line for other openings but many people don’t do it.
Increase your chances of landing that dream gig by keeping these pointers Under your Brim