Avoid Making Your Resume Look Unprofessional

It can be frustrating to put a lot of work into a resume only to realize that it is not bringing back any interviewing opportunities. While this feeling isn’t a good one, it is good to know that there are a number of reasons that this could be occurring.

One is that there is a large pool of candidates applying for virtually every job you apply for. But even if this is so, there should be a time that your resume catches someone’s attention unless you’re a victim of the second reason: your resume isn’t that great.

Sometimes resumes just don’t make the cut when it comes to formatting, grammar and spelling or content. And sometimes, the resume just looks unprofessional. If you’re not sure whether yours is giving off this vibe, here are some ways you might be doing just that…

Making Your Resume Cutesy

Your resume might be a lot of things - professional, informative, even clever - but one thing it shouldn’t be is cute. Meaning, there is no reason to add colorful pictures, cutesy bullet points or anything that takes away from your professionalism. So if you’re tempted to add a cute background, think again. This move could easily turn away a hiring manager before he ever looks at your qualifications.

Adding Inappropriate E-mail Accounts

Another mistake that some candidates make when creating their resumes is adding email addresses that showcase immaturity or are simply inappropriate. If you still have the Ilovecuteguys@myemailaccount.com address from college, you may want to consider leaving it off of your resume. It’s very easy to create a professional email address for free, so there’s no excuse for still using the old one.

Forgetting to Proofread

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make on your resume. No matter how much great information you place on there to show what a great candidate you are, it will be difficult to see it if you have a spelling error or typo on there. Failing to proofread is similar to huge blemishes on a face. No matter how attractive the face may be, it’s hard to bypass the blemishes staring right at you.

Using Templates for Resumes

There is never an excuse for using a template as a resume because they are "cookie cutters," meaning anyone could use them. If you’re just taking someone else’s work and filling in the blanks with your information, you’re doing yourself a major disservice. Your resume should be filled with all original information so that it accurately reflects what you’re bringing to the table.

Adding Everything That’s Ever Occurred In Your Life

While it’s good to make your resume comprehensive, you don’t want to add every insignificant detail that has ever occurred in your career. In other words, unless you only have your fast food drive-thru experience to add then it’s good to leave it off.

When you have spent years building a great career, the last thing you want to do is undermine it with an unprofessional resume. So before you submit your next one, it’s a great idea to clear up any of the above problems.