It is a common proverb, First impression is the last impression. If you are a job seeker your first impression is presented through your Cv which plays a very important role. No matter how qualified you are, a good resume can make a great difference so as the worst CV mistakes. Employers receive thousands of resumes while they are hiring and looking for suitable candidates. But how they shortlist a candidate is quite important because the selection of shortlisted candidates depends on how you have presented yourself in your resume. Despite your qualification level, experience level many candidates fail to get the attention of employers. In order to make your CV stand out among other competitors here are some common mistakes in the CV, you should avoid while applying for a job opportunity.

1. Make Relevant CV

The first and most common mistake while CV making is that many job seekers apply for the job with only one CV. For example, if you are a graduate and there are two different jobs one post is for teaching jobs and one post is for Assistant job and you eligible for both posts. But for teaching the employers are looking for different skills and traits and for assistant employers have different expectations. So while applying for both jobs cv should be different and according to the employer's demand with a different skillset.

2. Grammar and spelling errors

Did you know that grammar and spelling mistakes can ruin your job hunt? This is the most off-putting mistake you can make, especially when you praise yourself for being a ‘perfectionist’ or paying attention to details. The most obvious ones they come across are misspellings, e.g. ‘separate’ instead of ‘separate’, grammar and punctuation mistakes.  Here is a couple you should avoid at all costs: Your vs. you’re, Its vs. it’s, Apostrophes and plurals, Their, they’re and there, Accept vs. Except, Than vs. Then, etc.  To do this, you need to proofread your CV and make sure you check, check and then check again.

3. Avoid Adding Incorrect Information

The main aim while making your resume is know how to get shortlisted for an interview. If you have mentioned incorrect information regarding your home address, email address and contact number the employer would not be able to call you for the interview which is the first basic step. This way for the employer it would be difficult to get in touch with you. So make sure to add all the information that is correct and authentic. Moreover, be wary of the location and format you use to list your contact information on your resume. Never add your contact information to the Header portion of a Word document or paste your contact information in as an image. Applicant tracking systems )(ATS cannot read the information if you have added contact information to the Header portion and will list your contact details as missing or incomplete in the system.

4. Including Updated & Relevant Information

Your resume must include updated and relevant information otherwise your resume will go unnoticed by the employers and end up in the trash. There are some common precautions that you need to take and be aware of like avoid adding your age, marital status, hobbies because this sort of information shows you are not aware of the latest trends of writing according to professional standards. If you add this type of information it will be considered discriminatory and you can get eliminated on the basis of age, gender etc. The best practice is to add only relevant information that is mandatory for the job or employer specifically employer asked for it otherwise such details don’t belong to your resume.

5. Length Of Resume

The standard length of a resume should be two pages which are always expected by the employer. Unless you have worked from 10 to 15 years and your experience list is quite long along with the number of responsibilities you have performed in all those years. In such a case, the employer will accept a lengthy resume but in order to get the attention to try to keep the length of your document on one page, only that includes all your achievements and experience and qualification. Sometimes employers feel offensive if they are provided with a lengthy resume because the hiring managers may feel like you don’t value their time and can cause you to lose the job just for this common mistake.  

6. Failure to demonstrate and quantify results

When an employer is looking for their ideal candidate they expect him to fulfill all the responsibilities that are given in their job description.  The best way to apply with a resume that states the results of your past achievements. So that the employer will get a glance of your capability and competence level that makes you the right candidate for the job. Results are best described as quantifiable results — business growth numbers, improved retention stats, increased sales, proven return on investment, and so on. If you do not provide sufficient details of your results that show your potential the employer may get the hint that you were incompetent to fulfill your responsibilities.

7. Not Adding Professional Summary

In the previous formats of writing a resume, an objective statement was used that does not cop up with the latest trends of writing a CV. However nowadays the standards for writing resume are modified and instead of the objective statement, there is an addition of professional summary just below your contact and name details. The professional summary should present some interesting facts regarding your capability for the job so that just by regarding your professional summary the hiring managers can get a glance and take your resume into consideration. 

8. Being too Generalized

Although it is considered best to be precise while making your resume but being too generalized or not customized to match the job listing can cost you a great loss. It is not necessary for each and every job you have to make a separate resume but always focuses on making your resume according to the job for which you are applying. If your resume does not look relevant according to the job opportunity who are applying for the employer will more likely to through your resume into the trash and in worst case employer blacklist you for all the upcoming jobs as well.

9. Avoid Redundancy

The employer receives tons of resume and what attracts them is having some qualities of a good CV. The first and most important thing is to avoid redundancy by not adding repetitive words and phrases in the resume because this way hiring managers could get offensive by considering that you don’t like to put the effort into your job by choosing all the same words again and again. This can also impact the personality of a person in the eyes of the employer. So always try to put a little effort by using a variation of action-oriented words and being specific for each position listed.

10. Resume Format/ Design

When it comes to your resume the main focus should be on format because the CV format for the job is usually considered best if it’s less and well defined. Adding too much-elaborated details can be taken as a bad impression so in such cases less is usually more. Try to be simple, avoid adding long paragraphs, unnecessary details, information that is not relevant like adding your previous career stories. The employers only care about a candidate who is best suited and can fulfill the job responsibilities so avoid too much elaboration or creativity in your resume format, because it can lead towards employers skipping over your application altogether