WHAT NOW? Wednesdays – Avoiding Some Common Job Seeker Mistakes

[Kristine]

If you have been diligently networking and submitting resumes with no success, you may be thinking WHAT NOW? This week I’d like to offer a few suggestions for job seekers on what NOT to do in your job search.

1) Don’t be vague and unsure about what you are looking for in a job and what you have to offer. Be clear and concise in all of your communications. Think about it – would you recommend or hire someone who can’t clearly communicate what they want in a job and what they can bring to the table?

2) Don’t misrepresent or hide parts of you background and experience. It’s one thing not to emphasize experience unrelated to your current career interests. However, when you have gaps and/or inconsistencies in your resume and online profiles, this can be a red flag to a recruiter. Integrity is a HUGE consideration for employers, so it is critical that you are up front and honest in all your communications. I have seen resumes listing Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. under Interests and Activities. These candidates are inviting employers to look online to find out more about them, which as you know, can be good and BAD. The worst ones I have seen include inappropriate pictures and information that is not consistent with what is on the resume. If you haven’t already, you may want to read and keep in mind one of RecruiterGuy’s blogs relating to this topic.

3) Don’t underestimate the importance of your resume. I ran across an article on Google this week that had some good points. I’m sure many of these have been covered in previous blogs, but I'd like to share some reminders from the article on resume mistakes you may want to avoid:

• Don't focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved. The best way to show that
you did your job well is from achievements. For example, no one can see that you were
a "good team player" on your resume unless you can say something like "established a team to
solve problem x and increased sales x%" or "joined under-performing team and helped that
team beat production delivery dates by three weeks."

• Steer clear of expressions like "Duties included," "Responsibilities included," or "Responsible
for." That's job-description language, and not what employers are looking for. Use action verbs
instead. Ask yourself: "What does this accomplishment say about me, and what I can do for
this employer I want to work for?"

• Ditch the line about references on request. It's implied.

• Tread lightly on the personal interests line. Your personal interests are not there to make you
look interesting. They are there to get you an interview. Every line on your resume is there to
get you an interview. So only list personal interests that reveal a quality that will help you
meet the employer's needs.

• Spell check your resume. Then check the spelling yourself. Then have someone else proofread
it. Resumes with typographical errors often automatically get moved to the bottom of the
pile. If you can't be trusted to pay attention to such an important detail in your job search,
what does it say about your potential job performance?

• Have a professional email address using just a combination of your names and/or initials. While
it is fine to use [e-mail] with your friends, using it a resume implies you do
not know what is appropriate in a business environment!