10 Common Resume/Cover Letter Mistakes

Get your resume and cover letter out and check it against this list! I've compiled a list of mistakes from feedback on my own resume/cover letter, notes from various professors, and things I saw on the web!

Your resume and cover letter are the first impression. I know for a fact that mine is not strong experience wise so I need to make sure I compensate for that and avoid common mistakes that could land your resume straight to the "Absolutely Not" pile.


1. ME, ME, ME attitude: Avoid focus all about YOU and YOUR needs. The hiring manager isn't sitting around thinking about what they can do for YOU. They need someone to do a job and to add value to their company. You need to make them aware of what YOU can do for THEM. Avoid telling them how much this job would help your career and your skills but rather show them how your skills and career goals could help them to achieve their goals and objectives. Show how you would indeed be helping them out. It makes perfect sense and is completely logical but it seems like it is a big trap for those of us writing resumes. I fell into it until a kind mentor told me the mistake.

2. Spelling/Punctuation Errors: It's kind of like when I'm reading a review from an author about their own book and they have horrible grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I find myself passing on their book if they are writing at a second grade level. It's an eyesore to hiring managers when there are run on sentences, obvious spelling mistakes, and punctuation running amok. I've found when I'm rushing to get a resume out I make dumb little mistakes like missing a word in the middle of a sentence or using "hear" instead of "here" because my brain is faster than my typing. Just slow down and write it. Check it. Get someone else to read it through. Check it again before you send it off.

3. Responsibilities over results: I got this tip somewhere online and I wrote it down but can't remember where it came from! Avoid focusing entirely on your responsibilities from your previous jobs and not taking enough time to focus on the results. Telling your responsibilities is a good thing as it gives the hiring manager an idea of what you did at your previous jobs. However, don't let it overshadow the results & the things you accomplished. This shows how valuable you were to your previous employers. Tell them about how you increased profits in your region or how you won an award or increased your subscription base by %2. This one is hard for me because I don't have alot of accomplishments that can be tracked on my resume. Make sure you keep track of these things whenever you are employed.

4. No objective/summary on your resume: I never thought this was a big deal until I started looking at other resumes from my peers. Having a clear objective or summary can tell the hiring manager what you want to do and are suited for. This clearly requires some tailoring to your resume for each job you are looking for if they are different industries or are in different fields but it will be worth it to make the extra effort. It makes you looked focus even if you really are willing to accept any job.

5. Incorrect contact info: Seems silly and obvious but make sure your email address is current and spelled right. Make sure your current number is on there.

6. Going overboard on the format: Keep it simple and don't be more concerned with how it looks over what it says! Don't use tiny fonts or different colors or a few different fonts. Make it easy on the eyes. Don't include a picture of yourself unless it's for a modeling gig. Clearly there are some jobs in industries looking for some creativity so use your discretion. Make it crisp and concise. Utilize bullets. It needs to be easy to read.

7. Don't get too personal: Do not litter your cover letter with the sob story of your life or revealing too much about your personal life. Make sure any websites or blogs you give them do not have anything inappropriate on them.

8. Forgetting those keywords: All hiring managers are looking for certain key words based on the position and industry. They are easily able to scan your resume for keywords on the computer by using databases that are searchable by key words. Welcome to technology, kiddies. The internet has made it so that the number of resumes being sent for a particular job is astronomical. More resumes means more time to read through them all. Therefore, why not weed out the ones that don't have keywords they are looking for? So, use those keywords. Here is a good article to get you thinking about those keywords.

9. Improper format: Make sure you have it saved in the proper format so that it can be opened. It depends on what they ask for but make sure it can be opened. Recently I forgot to save it to an older version of Word and sent a resume off and it couldn't be opened with my newer version of Word. Luckily, she emailed me back and told me to send it again via email or another format but you won't always be that lucky.

10. LYING: I shouldn't even have to say this but I do. DON'T LIE on your resume or cover letter! Don't exaggerate too much. You will get caught. It might not be right away or even formally but it will end up biting you in the butt at some point. Don't do it. Just don't.

I've heard it said that most employers only look at each resume for about 30 seconds so make those 30 seconds count!

Any other feedback you have gotten about resume mistakes you've made? Did I forget any?

Tweeting Your Way to Be Among the Gainfully Employed?

I'm a tweeter. I tweet about my day, my frustrations, things that I'm excited about (as in, the LOST season premiere), my disappointments, articles I find interesting, funny things that happened, and sometimes I even tweet about my job search. But using Twitter as a way to GET a job? Wait..what?

The more I've been perusing the web for tips to strengthen my job search and how to be more efficient in it, I've come across quite a few people claiming that Twitter is a revolutionary way to enhance your job search in 2010.

What is that you say? I could tweet my way to a job? Well, being the curious little creature that I am, decided that I must research this further and have my hand at using Twitter as a part of my new aggressive approach to making my way into the world of the employed again.

Instantly I found this website: TwitJobSearch. Essentially it is search engine for jobs, similar to indeed.com, except that it targets job postings on Twitter. I typed in a few key words "marketing, entry level, Philadelphia" and a decent amount of jobs popped up. Some I had seen on other job boards and some were brand new. I decided to add this to my extensive list of job search boards to scour every day.

But how else could Twitter be used?

Lists: I love making lists in general. Lists on Twitter are fabulous because you can have complete organization. For example, I'm adding lists on my Twitter for networking, companies I'd want to work for, and industry experts. It will save you time instead of sifting through all your tweets to see tweets relevant to your job search.

Networking: After you have become an organized Twitter genius, reach out to some of these people you have listed. Ask for advice from those industry professionals or friends in your field. Make meaningful comments on their tweets. Interact with them! Show them you are serious. I had a good experience with this. I followed InternQueen and asked her for some advice for college grads and internships. She tweeted me back pretty promptly and gave me advice. Some of them are going to ignore you but some of them might respond back to someone who shows genuine interest and shares their career aspirations.

Hash Tags: I remember this summer seeing these strange hash tag symbols on Twitter. Once I learned how they were used I immediately saw their effectiveness. You can use them in the job search too. Make your you are tagging your posts with relevant key words. You can also search hash tags to see tweet subjects that interest you.

I'm still new to using Twitter as an addition to my job search so I will be giving you the dirt once I learn more ways to use it for this purpose!

What are your thoughts? Do you tweet? Would you ever consider it a good way to enhance your job search? Have you used it for this purpose before or know anyone that has?

Internships?

(me at my internship for a customer service photo shoot..and guess what..I ended up in an advertisement in photography magazines!)


Internships might just not be for college students anymore. It seems as though every article related to unemployment or job searching tips that I find myself pouring over are saying that internships are the new jobs (particularly for college grads!)

I remember watching The Pursuit of Happiness in college and thinking how horrible it must be as an adult to take an unpaid internship. But alas, here I find myself seriously considering taking part in an internship program. I think alot of people are finding themselves considering the option. I mean, there is nothing wrong with an internship! I had a wonderful, paid internship and learned alot from it. However, the thought of taking possibly an UNPAID internship scares the dickens out of me! That could have been a possibility whilst in school but it would be a tough option to not get paid. It scares me to think that money will be coming out of my bank account and not going in; no matter how well I save.

Let's just highlight some of the positives of an internships (which far outweigh the negatives):

-They are the middle ground for someone like me between having zero experience to having 5 pages worth of experience. Internships don't require you to have extensive experience. They create experience.
- Many internships lead to actual positions and if they don't they sure are a good resume booster and a good reference. That's why it is important to take your internship seriously and do your best work; even if you aren't getting paid.
- You can get a feel for what you want to do (or don't want to do). I've been looking at internships as a way to see what possible careers there are for me out there and how well I fit into those fields.
- They are generally part time. This is important for those of us who are absolutely broke. You could always pick up a few shifts waiting tables or working retail. It will be hard work to juggle an internship, a job, and a LIFE but it will pay off in the end.
- There are some amazing, crazy internships out there! I'm actually in the midst of applying for an internship with a travel company to travel for 3 months and document it. I'm also looking at Cross Cultural Solutions for internship opportunities in India and China (they have many other countries available.) You just have to seek these internships out. Thinking outside of the box is always beneficial.

Those are just a few of the benefits that came to my mind while I was weighing my options.

So, my dear unemployed (and employed) friends, what do you think about internships?

You can find internships all over the web. Remember to look on websites for industry associations. I know that the American Marketing Association has marketing specific job boards with internships.

And check out my FAVORITE resource for awesome internships and intern advice:

Intern Queen!!

LinkedIn!

I was urged to join LinkedIn by a few friends. They said it's the place for serious job seekers and networkers to be. Well, I thought to myself, I had better head over there because that is what I am!

Basically LinkedIn is the professional world's version of Facebook. It's pretty fabulous. You aren't being bombarded by dumb quizzes about which Twilight character you are like and Farmville applications (no offense to anyone..I know how addicting these things can be) nor do you have to see pictures of little hoe cookies half naked and drunk on your news feed. You know, those girls you were never friends with in high school and still have NO idea why they have added you as a Facebook friends. I have to admit it doesn't quite have the fun factor like Facebook has but it's a really good place for people serious about networking. You can link up with your old professors, friends, family and then you can see who they know. It's quite a shame that, so far, none of my contacts know people high up in places I want to work! Jeez, I mean, why can't somebody I know be the sister of the higher ups in Vogue or at Michael Kors! :)

Anyways, I can't boast of some huge success story with LinkedIn quite yet as I'm still new. However, get on over there and create a profile and add everybody you know! You never know the connections you might come across.