6 Reasons Recruiters Dismissed Your Resume

Are you making a critical error in your resume or in your approach to job hunting in general? For many job seekers, having a job application rejected is just part of the process of job hunting. However, your approach may be unknowingly turning off recruiters and employers alike. The goal of a resume is to impress the recruiter enough to book you for a job interview. In our experience, here are the most common mistakes made by job seekers.

• Applying for roles you’re not experienced or qualified for
  This is our number one reason for dismissing a job application. If this occurs, you’ve clearly not read the job description thoroughly. Your application will be turned away if you’re a real estate receptionist with 2 years’ experience applying for a senior property management role requiring 5 plus years’ experience.
• Missing or inconsistent dates
  When listing your previous jobs, ensure that you have accurate start and finish dates. Resumes that contain missing or inconsistent dates can look like you’re trying to hide something. For example, if you have taken a year off to study, travel or care for a child/parent, state that on your resume. Leaving this blank will only cause doubt in the recruiters mind. We recommend providing the year and the month for start and completion dates of all activities on your resume.
• A ridiculous email address
  You might love poodles, but should you really put poodlegirl27@gmail.com on your resume? It makes you look unprofessional and causes doubt in the recruiters mind about the seriousness of your application. If you don’t have a professional sounding email address, we recommend creating one from gmail, yahoo, hotmail or many other free services.
• Misleading information
  Recruiters use a number of methods to authenticate the information given on resumes. So providing false or misleading information will be detrimental to your chances of getting the job. For example, if your resume doesn’t match the information provided on your LinkedIn profile, this is an immediate red flag for recruiters.
• Spelling and grammar errors
  It’s amazing how many resume’s we receive with typos and grammar mistakes in them. One typo could possibly be forgiven if the rest of your application is great, but resume’s containing multiple spelling errors and poor grammar will be rejected. We recommend you read and re-read your resume and also get a friend to check it and provide some feedback. Submitting a resume with errors is a waste of both your time and the recruiters, so don’t rush it!
• Unprofessional photos
  Unless the job you’re applying for requests a head shot, we recommend not including these on your resume. As a candidate, you will be judged on your suitability for the role, not on your looks.

We hope this information has been helpful for planning your next job application. Remember that your resume is a document that provides a first impression of you and taking the time to get it right will bring you one step closer to winning the role.