8 Ways Your Résumé Can Be Unprofessional

The job market is tough, applications fly out everyday for only few job opportunities, must be an obsolete discussion to you already. But a fact remains that one of the few things that’ll keep you from the running in the job market is a résumé that stands out from the park; something that’s worth a few glances.

I’d love to tell you recruiters love spending time going through résumés but I’d be lying. The truth is the more applicants there are, the slimmer your chances of a thorough read, so really if you want your résumé to be looked at, you should avoid all these faux pas

Tacky email addresses: M2hot4u@domain.com- it may be romantic to you but recruiters only think of individuals with such slushy email addresses as immature and as people who lack an understanding for the rudiments of business. Having a pretty email address is not professional and that means no job. Get a more formal email address, and make sure it’s yours only.

Picture on your résumé: Pictures are good in many places; your photo album, year book, phone, social networking profiles, wallet, anywhere else but your résumé. It’s not a good way to distract recruiters. No pictures please.

Spelling and grammatical errors- There’s a simple maths application to this; if you can’t proof a two-page document for yourself, how would you write a report or draft a proposal for a huge project? dis practically scrims “am unprofessional” to recruiters because it distorts their flow of reading, just like this sentences does.

Using spouse or sibling as reference: Just because you want someone to put you in the best light possible, using your spouse or sibling as a reference is a far cry from professionalism. A preferred reference would be your former employer, your mentor, head(s) of department in the school(s) you attended.

Wrong phone number or contact details: congratulations, you've just discovered an easy way to stay unemployed. It still boils down to proofing your work properly to be sure all numbers and letters are in the right places. Before you press the ‘send’ button, try a new set of eyes to look at your résumé and be sure the contact number(s) and email addresses on the résumé are reachable.

Very lengthy résumé:[color=#990000][/color] nobody has the time for that. If you can’t summarise all your experiences into 2 pages, it shows how unstable you could be. Truth is; the longer the résumé, the more diversified it gets and the more likely you go out of context. Get a professional résumé expert to help you.

Wordiness: nothing could be more frustrating to a recruiter than reading a biography instead of a résumé, recruiters don’t care if you've been a yes man to all your former employers or you handled 10 responsibilities in every single role you've ever occupied. What matters to them is how your work experience relates to the particular role you are applying for. Your résumé shouldn't just be a list of responsibilities but a list of “quantified” accomplishments. Co-led a team that cut company marginal cost by 20% in 3 months makes a lot more sense than worked with a team on company project for 3 months. There are several ways you can quantify your experience, spend ample time figuring out how you performed in your previous role(s). And if you think you don’t have work experience, read this and this.

Terrible formatting: unprofessional font type and size, no structure or organisation- these aren't good ways to present your qualifications. It doesn't matter if you are qualified for a job, what matters is if your résumé says so. Ensure to use professional font types and appropriate sizes, use bullet points to list your accomplishments, italicise your roles for emphasis and you don’t need to give your résumé a title (e.g Curriculum Vitae of James Bond).