Pet Peeves on Resumes

This article is from ResumeDoctor and can be found at http://www.resumedoctor.com/ResourceCenter.htm#petpeevesurvey

Recruiter "Pet Peeve" Survey - Recently, ResumeDoctor.com undertook the immense project of conducting a survey of over 2,500 recruiters / headhunters throughout the US and Canada to find out their "Pet Peeves" with resumes. These recruiters stemmed from varied specialties and industries, (Engineering, Information Technology, Sales and Marketing, Executive, Biotech, Healthcare, Administrative, Finance, etc.).

ResumeDoctor.com sought to find out what the recruiter’s likes and dislikes in a resume and what is going to get a resume read by them. Here are the top twenty Results of the Survey.

1. Spelling Errors, Typos and Poor Grammar
2. Too duty oriented – reads like a job description, failing to explain the job seeker's relevant accomplishments
3. Missing dates or inaccurate dates
4. Missing contact Info, inaccurate, or unprofessional email addresses
5. Poor formatting – boxes, templates, tables, use of header and footers, etc.
6. Resumes organized by job function as opposed to chronological by employer
7. Long resumes – greater than 2 pages
8. Long, dense paragraphs – no bullet-points
9. Unqualified candidates – candidates who apply to positions for which they are not qualified
10. Personal info not relevant to the job
11. Missing employer Info and/or not indicating what industry in which the candidate worked
12. Lying and misleading - especially in terms of education, dates and inflated titles
13. Objectives and meaningless introductions
14. Poor font choice or style
15. Resumes sent as PDF files, Zip files, faxes, or mailed resumes; i.e. not sent as a WORD attachment
16. Irritating Pictures, graphics or URL links
17. No easy-to-follow summary of skills and accomplishments
18. Resumes written with 1st person references, or in the 3rd person
19. Unexplained gaps in employment
20. Burying important info in the resume