Sometimes I see a resume in which the job seeker has followed every piece of advice I ever gave on writing a resume and it is still not ready to send out.
The contact information is clear and professional, the opening profile explains the job applicant’s value to the company and the resume is targeted for the companies and industry the job seeker is interested in.
So what’s wrong?
Unfortunately, the one item that sinks many resumes is poor writing. At Robin’s Resumes®, you have a skilled, certified, professional resume writer working on your resume. While all my skills, certifications, and years of experience are important, the word “writer” is the one word that we are focusing on today.
You cannot make spelling and grammatical mistakes on your resume. Hiring managers and recruiters will often cast a resume aside for those mistakes without ever looking at an applicant’s actual qualifications. Those mistakes include the misuse of commas and apostrophes; misspellings (“complementary” instead of “complimentary” or “advise” instead of “advice”); subjects and verbs that do not agree (online grammar checkers are notorious for making mistakes with plural and singular verbs); and similar errors. Two letter words (of, at, to, in) are often missing and easily overlooked because you expect to see them when you read. Over-capitalization is a bad habit that I mostly blame on technology, where every new product or service (Cloud vs. cloud; Web site vs. website) starts out life with a capital letter.
Beyond grammar and spelling—involving rule you probably have not thought about since fifth grade—good writing also means using interesting verbs to capture attention; explaining difficult concepts in a way that hiring managers and recruiters can understand even if they lack the needed financial, technical, or business background; emphasizing the right accomplishments and skills; creating flow; and on and on. Good writing means communicating your value concisely, accurately, and passionately, when “concise” often means “in one sentence or less.”
If writing is not your strong suit, take heart—you have Robin’s Resumes® in your corner. Contact us today.