Proofread Your Resume

Proofread Your Resume Just recently, I was privileged to critique a resume from a CEO of one of the worlds largest advertising companies. I was astounded to see numerous grammar and spelling errors in his document. What kind of impression would that make on a hiring influencer? Needless to say, he is now my client. For you, a resume is a marketing tool a way to advance your candidacy and get to a yes. For a hiring manager or executive recruiter, however, a resume is a tool to screen people out and get to a no. Spelling and grammatical mistakes can swiftly get your resume onto the no pile. Even though you may be the perfect candidate, you are under the gun and must ready to be penalized if your resume has errors. Luckily, there are many easy ways to rectify resume errors and stay in the race. First and foremost: Proofread, proofread and proofread before submitting your resume or other career documentation. Have it reviewed by friends and family for typos and other oversights. Some of the most common errors I see on executive resumes are: The use of the personal pronouns I, my, he, she, etc. A Hotmail address studies have shown that 76% of resumes are rejected for an unprofessional email address. Set up a new Gmail address with a first name + last name format A section titled Objective use a Projective section instead A photograph Personal details hiring decision makers are not interested in your marital status, date of birth, or hobbies; they also dont care about how many pints of blood youve given or your childhood paper route Also review this list of commonly confused or misspelled words and check that youve used them correctly in your resume: A lot versus allot versus alot Accept versus except Affect versus effect Anxious versus eager Any more versus anymore Any one versus anyone Any way versus anyway Every day versus everyday Its versus its That versus which Then versus than Theyre versus their versus there To versus too versus two Where versus wear versus were Whos versus whose Your versus youre Dont get caught on the resume blooper reel. Proofread, proofread, proofread. You cannot assume that spell check will pick up on all mistakes and redline them. Often some will be missed. This is where having your resume reviewed by a human is critical. You only get one chance to impress. Failure to proofread could be your executive career downfall.