Resume Killers - protecting yourself from mistakes - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

by Rob Williams - email | bio

A lot of people are looking for a job. On average it takes about nine months to land something, even if you already have a job. Having a successful resume is important with so many companies downsizing.

This week about a thousand people showed up a the Sharonville Convention Center, all with the same goal - landing a job.

"It has been tough," said jobseeker Larry McFerron. "The positions I'm looking for in terms of sales and customer service background, it has been kind of hard because there's been a lot more people flooding the market."

A Sharonville resident, Larry is armed with his resume, and trying to get the attention of at least one of the more than 30 employers at this job fair.

"Your resume sells yourself," said jobseeker Heather Mays. "It sells your experience. It sells how you are as a person. If you don't have a correct resume, the employers throw you aside."

Julie Bauke wrote the book Stop Peeing on your Shoes - Avoiding the 7 Mistakes That Screw Up Your Job Search. She offers seven "resume don'ts" that will help you land your next job.

First mistake: Being unclear.

"Remember you're not always going to be with your resume as it travels around town," said Julie. "Anybody who gets a hold of it and one who doesn't know you should hold it and understand what is next for you."

According to Julie, an unclear resume screams, "wow what a mess."

"Your resume is of course a history of what you've done today," said Julie. "People look at that and think, 'I have to put all that on paper.' And they literally and mentally dump it on their resume and say, 'done!'"

If your resume is a landfill of past jobs and experiences and not a way to market yourself, it is good enough for mistake number two.

Second mistake: data dumping ground.

"What are your great skills your strengths your accomplishments? What do you rock out like nobody else? And that needs to be clear on your resume," said Julie.

Julie says the biggest myth is the length.  It doesn't have to be one page.

"I've seen people who are mid career and try to stuff everything on one page and then all of the sudden you're leaving out really important things that should be part of your self marketing strategy," she said.

Third mistake: typos.

"A lot of times it's because you've looked at it so many times the words don't even make sense to you anymore," said Julie.

Julie says get the most meticulous person you know to comb over your resume, because typos put you in a bad light.

Fourth mistake: when you scan it nothing pops out.

It takes too much time to fish thru.

Fifth mistake: big blocky paragraphs.

"Literally they are going to look at it quickly and they want to go, 'boom boom boom,'" said Julie. "A visual scan to see if there is anything in there to compel them to read more closely."

Sixth mistake: stupid email addresses.

"The worst example of an email address that I've ever seen is slacker and something dot com," said Julie. "Think professionally. What hiring manager is going to hire a self proclaimed slacker?"

Julie says in this economy, employers are getting stacks of resumes and are looking for ways to weed you out if don't make it easy for them.  She says most importantly, put yourself on the other side of the table.  Think about what the employer should know about you and clearly convey that.

[You can click here for a sample resume in .pdf form]

For more information on Julie, her company and book, visit http://www.congruitycareer.com/

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