If you’re human you will make mistakes! However, there is a time and place for errors. If you are driving down the road and you drop the napkin from your hotdog as you ride with the windows down, you can ask Mother Earth to forgive you and keep traveling. On the other hand, if you work at an auto shop as the technician responsible for changing oil, and you forget to put the oil in the car, then you better know that there is not much room for forgiveness.
With this said, your resume is one area where hiring managers are not so forgiving on particular mistakes. After all, this document represents you in all of your glory. It is your marketing piece and calling card to an organization and says Here’s why I am the best candidate for this position. It is your only chance to make a first impression on those in-charge of hiring or declining to hire you. Therefore, here are a few mistakes that are “unforgivable” from an HR standpoint. Pay attention - these resume writing tips could help save your resume from the trash can and can open doors for interviews and future employment.
Company Name: First and foremost, it is never a good idea to misspell the name of the company that has signed your paychecks. More importantly, the hiring director reviewing your resume could have worked there. Not to mention that it’s just very unprofessional and says little about your ability to pay attention to details. For example, you wrote JANE’S PEI EMPORIUM when you meant to write JANE’S PIE EMPORIUM. We’re fairly certain we don’t have to tell you further why this is incorrect.
Job Title misspellings: All confidence in your abilities goes right out the window if you make this mistake. For example, if your resume were to display as Cheif Technology Officer. The first question would be, “Can he/she be considered to lead a team with such a paltry grasp of basic spelling?”
Inconsistent dates: If your dates don’t match up or are not in order then you could be considered flighty or not detail-oriented. Who wants to portray themselves in that light to a potential employer?
Brief example: JACK’S COMPUTERS, City, State 2004 – 2003
PETE’S COMPUTERS, City, State 2006 – 2008
Email addresses: Always think about the email address you put on your resume. If your current email is then you probably don’t want to use that address on your resume. Since most email addresses are free it would behoove you to create one just for resumes. You don’t want to send any pre-conceived notions to a potential employer.
With the stress of work and everyday life, these types of mistakes can possibly slip right past you. In those times, you can confidently turn your resume over to the professionals at for excellence in the creation and preparation of fine-tuned resumes that will get you noticed by potential employers.