Whether you’ve partnered with an employment agency in NJ or are managing your own job search, you need an outstanding resume. Small mistakes can have serious consequences. Not only may they be considered red flags by the hiring manager, but they may make you hard to reach or seem unqualified.

Often, avoiding resume mistakes is relatively simple, as long as you know what they are and how to sidestep them. If you want to make sure your resume is in good shape, here are five more resume mistakes to watch out for and what to do if you see them on your resume.

1. No Action Verbs

When you’re writing a resume, you need to strike the right tone. Action verbs are usually the easiest way to give your accomplishment some extra flare, as well as helpful context.

Make sure you rely on action verbs when you describe your achievements. Options like “managed,” “deployed,” “increased,” “implemented,” and “developed” pack a bit of a punch, making them the preferred approach.

2. Omitting Critical Information

As you write your resume, you may wonder if a side job you held to earn some extra money needs to make an appearance. While there are situations where leaving it off may be preferable, there are others where including it is essential.

If the hiring manager wants a full rundown of your work history, skipping even a smaller position may cost you the job. If they complete a thorough employment check, they’ll notice that a position is missing. When that occurs, they might question your honesty or wonder if there’s something you’re trying to hide.

Even if that isn’t the case, that one-off role may provide you with value. It could be a chance to showcase essential soft skills, an opportunity you’ll miss out on if you skip the job.

3. Incorrect Contact Details

No matter how incredible your resume is, your job search may not succeed if your contact details aren’t correct. Whether it’s transposed digits in a phone number or a missing letter or symbol in an email, a single error means that you won’t know if the hiring manager reaches out.

Before you send your resume to a hiring manager, double and triple-check your contact details. That way, you’ll know for certain that if the hiring manager wants to schedule an interview, they’ll reach you quickly.

4. Too Busy

When a resume is wall-to-wall text, it’s tough to read. Similarly, if there are several different fonts, more than one type of bullet, bold sections, italics, and multiple size changes, your resume may look incredibly cluttered or unrefined.

Ideally, you want to keep things fairly simple. Have a sufficient amount of whitespace and limit your stylistic choices. That way, your resume will be readable, organized, and visually attractive.

5. Using a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Sending out a generic resume rarely yields results. Instead, you want to target the content to the exact role, personalizing the information based on each hiring manager’s unique needs. That way, you can position yourself as the closest fit possible, increasing the odds that you’ll get selected for an interview.

Ultimately, all of the resume mistakes above need to be avoided. If you’d like to learn more about how to manage a successful job search or would like to partner with an employment agency in NJ, Alpha Consulting wants to hear from you. Contact us today.