Common mistakes candidates make when developing their personal brand

Dear Sam: With so many of my colleagues and friends experiencing unexpected transitions at work, I feel it may be prudent to prepare my resume for a job search. As I haven’t done this in a while, can you share some common mistakes people make so I can avoid them?

– Ruby

Dear Ruby: Of course!

There are many common mistakes candidates make, not based on a lack of effort but because of a lack of understanding of what is most important in today’s job market. Additionally, with so much ‘advice’ swirling around, it can

be challenging to know what is an opinion and what is expertise.

Here are a few common errors I find in many resumes... 1. Focusing on responsibilities instead of achievements – Hiring managers are not as interested in what you were paid to do; they are more interested in where you went above and beyond and contributed to the success of your employer. While you need to include some information on what you were responsible for on a daily basis, emphasis should be placed on the value you contributed to your employer, being sure to distinguish achievements from responsibilities through a separate subheading or formatting selections.

2. Using a common, overused resume template – Try to create a unique look for your resume, avoiding templates that hundreds of other candidates have used. Think about a hiring manager reviewing their 50th resume of the day, if your resume looks like 20 others, it won’t stand out from the crowd regardless of the content. Try to develop a unique and professional design; doing so will go a long way in compelling the reader to spend more than 4-7 seconds on your resume during the screening process.

3. Selecting the wrong format and presentation– When considering a reverse chronological, combination, or functional format, choose wisely based not only on your desire to present your experience a certain way, but also the knowledge that hiring authorities prefer reverse-chronological or combination resumes and traditionally dislike functional formats. I see a lot of functional resumes that do not need to use a purely functional format and instead could have used a savvier combination format which would have pleased the hiring manager while still achieving the focus the candidate was seeking. While combination resumes can be more challenging to write, the fact that they are a hybrid of the two other formats makes them a wiser choice if you seek to focus the hiring manager’s attention on certain aspects of your career while minimizing potentially disqualifying factors such as limited related or recent experience, significant employment gaps, frequent job

hops, and more.

4. Unprofessional email addresses and TMI – as simple as it seems, review your resume heading! Never include a work phone number, as this could tell a potential employer that you do not value your company’s resources. Include your cell phone number only if you can answer it professionally every time! Review voicemail messages for all the numbers listed on your resume and ensure they reinforce your professional, not personal, image. Lastly, be sure you have a professional email address. Don’t use email addresses with your graduation year, birth year, etc.; these are very easy to spot and can destroy strategic efforts to minimize a candidate’s lack or abundance of experience.

5. Lack of proofreading – Proofread, proofread, and then proofread again! Overlooked errors convey your attention to detail or lack thereof to the reader. Have someone else proofread your resume to ensure you submit an errorfree document.

I hope this helps get you started in the right direction! Good luck with your search.

Samantha Nolan