The most common mistakes in resumes

Your CV is your business card. It depends on your CV whether you are invited to further recruitment stages or not. It is worth taking enough time for its good preparation to attract a future employer and present yourself in the best possible way.

Each of us knows the basic principles of writing a CV. Despite that fact we often make common mistakes that can negatively affect a preliminary assessment of our candidature. Therefore we want to draw your attention to common errors that can be found in resumes.

Inaccurate contact and personal data:
We often forget to include a phone number or current address at which we might be reached. This prevents our potential employer from contacting us. We shouldn’t include our business contact phone number or e-mail addresses. If temporarily unavailable we should include another person’s number at their allowance under which we can be contacted. We must also remember that  our e-mail address sounds seriously. When a possible future employer types in the address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it he might respond to it with doubt. It should also be noted that a full date of birth must be given and not only how old we are while handing in our CV.  
 
Informal photo:
If the photo is inappropriate our candidature is automatically rejected. Such a photo may create an incorrect image of ourselves. We should always avoid using photos from vacation, parties or group photos. Only a passport photo should be attached. Such a photo will help us in creating a positive image. It is also important to include only actual photograph. Some of us use a  photo that was taken a few years ago thinking that it is a good habit. Nothing further from the truth. If we do not have the actual photo it is better not to include any.

Chronological list of the professional career and education:
If we decide on a chronological CV / see: Select best CV for yourself / we need to remember that we always start from the most current information, going back to the earliest.

Imprecise experience data: listing subsequent job positions we must always remember to include at least the most important duties. The names themselves do not communicate anything to a potential employer. Even if they sound similarly in other companies they may refer to different responsibilities. Only a precisely described range of duties will help the employer to assess our candidature . It is worth mentioning that by listing job positions in one company we inform the employer that we don’t need to change the job in order to be promoted. We also should remember that when listing the respective companies in our CV we must always add the branch they operate within.

Trainings and courses: Always remember to list only these courses and trainings that are related to the job offer and can provide added value for us. For example, an applicant for the position of a clothing designer will surely merit from mentioning the Corel course and practice in a renowned clothes company. Adding information about completed course in accounting is not appropriate in this case. The variety of courses and practices listed is a signal to a potential employer that we do not have a steady career path and we do not know what we want to do in life. All of that works to the disadvantage of being employed.

Lack of comprehensive data about foreign language skills: knowledge of foreign languages is increasingly checked during interviews. Therefore it is recommended to give precise information about the level of our linguistic competence, both written and spoken. If we had a good command of a foreign language in the past but didn't use it much for the last two years we should notify that fact. Even if we only know basics of a given language we should put it down in the CV. Especially if this concerns a specific branch e.g. garment technologist who knows language on the level demanded by his job position should clearly state it in his CV. Such information will surely be helpful for future employers. Also if there are certificates testifying to the level of a candidate’s linguistic competence they should be mentioned in his CV as well.

Other interests: when mentioning our interests and hobbies we should for a moment think how our future employer will react to them. It makes no sense to write that work is the hobby or to mention not existing ones. If our employer will turn out to have the same hobbies as those we pretended to have we might find ourselves in a difficult position. On the contrary, if a person applying for a job in the outdoor company will mention that he likes skiing it will surely gain him additional point from the employer. This is why such information should be definitely added. We should remember that our CV must be fitted best to the offer and never color reality.

The lack of clause of consent for the processing of personal data: Collecting data of people who have not given this permission is not allowed. Therefore the consent for the processing of personal data should be added to every CV. If a job offer includes a given company’s clause we use it . If we do not have a company’s specific clause we can add a the general one.

Too much volume: A maximum size of a  CV is 2 pages,  A4 format. A CV that has half a page or three pages doesn’t present itself well. If we lack professional experience we may add our personal values. But when our professional experience is huge we add only the relevant positions. We do not mention job positions that are irrelevant to the offer/see: select the best CV for yourself/.

Sending CVs in a different format than standard (Word): by sending your CV in a format other than Word document you have to reckon the fact that the employer may have a problem with opening the file.

A non-standard CV format/ different sizes of fonts, graphic elements, colors: /Always remember that your CV must attract attention with is clarity. Richly decorated CVs are good only when we apply for artistic/creative job positions.