5 Resume and Cover Letter Mistakes Costing You Interviews

5 Resume and Cover Letter Mistakes Costing You Interviews 5 Resume and Cover Letter Mistakes Costing You Interviews When prospective employers aren’t calling back, job hunters often assume they should make sweeping changes to their application materials. But sometimes tweaking the “little things” can have a huge payoff. Consider these résumé and cover letter mistakes that may be keeping you from landing in the coveted interview chair. 5 Resume and Cover Letter Mistakes Costing You Interviews 1. A Juvenile Appearance HelloKitty1998@XYZ.com is a perfectly fine email address- for a 10-year-old girl. You might see it as cute and catchy; employers view it as unprofessional. Other actions that can be interpreted as immature include: Writing in all lowercase, all uppercase, or in text style (I MUST GRAB YOUR ATTENTION THIS WAY cuz i dont have anything u will find impressive.) Using emojis, unless you want them to send back :( Choosing a nonstandard color or font (Is Broadway pink and Comic Sans the best you can do to show creativity?) 2. Carelessness All documents must be spell-checked, period. Also, watch out for other errors that could be giving hiring managers the impression that you don’t pay close attention to detail, such as: Misusing commonly confused words (there vs. their, your vs. you’re, advise vs. advice, to vs. too) Failing to include requested attachments Inconsistent columns or spacing 3. Technical Problems What looks great on your end might not when sent, especially if the employer uses an automated résumé scanner. To cut the risk of your résumé becoming a jumbled mess, try: Sticking to a plain-text version for online applications Avoiding formatting Deleting extras such as logos and pictures Selecting traditional headers that can be understood by all systems 4. Fluff Hiring managers aren’t pirates; they don’t have time to dig for buried treasure. Make sure the information most critical to your candidacy can be spotted with ease. A few things to avoid include: Generic, overused phrases with little meaning (such as “great communicator” or “hard worker”); stick to concrete examples, preferably quantifiable ones Accomplishments with no bearing on the position at hand (unless you’re looking for a job at the beach, employers don’t care that you’re a certified lifeguard) Details of every job you’ve ever held (you’re unlikely to impress anyone hiring in IT by talking about that summer spent scooping ice cream) Touting common, expected skills, such as the ability to use the Internet 5. Confusion Finally, don’t rely on an employer connecting the dots. Be certain to present a clear application package that hiring managers can follow easily. For instance, Identify each file you send with your full name. (“Résumé 2016” might be fine on your home computer, but can you imagine the hard time an employer will have finding the specific résumé a recruiter  wants if they all  simply use that title?) Keep your name consistent; an email coming in from Joan Brown may not register as being the same person who sent in a résumé under Joan B. Smith. Explain your past titles and companies. People tend to write in terms they understand instead of thinking about if a hiring manager will know what they mean. Unless your previous employer was a household name, detail the nature of the business. Looking for more resume and cover letter advice? Check our resume tips category. Readers,  do you have any other best practices you follow to help you land interviews? Are resume and cover letter mistakes costing you? Please share below.