Often we get emails from top human resources professionals of tier 1 and 2 companies requesting that we, as talent consultants, should tell candidates to rework on their resumes. Though 1000s of web portals have tips to enhance resumes, we, in this blog, intend to impart certain facts about what to avoid in a resume.
Infographics:
Many students believe that using infographics in a resume will impress HR professionals in MNCs. But the reality is, HR professionals hardly bother to pay attention to overdone resumes. In fact, such resumes are tossed in the waste bin the moment they are received. According to tier 1 HR professionals, we found that infographics used in resumes make it difficult for hiring managers to locate relevant information. The overly done graphics and fact files obscure information that is actually relevant, thus making it nothing but an annoyance to many hiring managers.
Contact Details:
Wrong contact details on resumes can showcase an applicant’s unprofessional and shoddy attitude towards a particular job. Always cross check facts in the resume so as to avoid any sort of errors or miscommunication. Update the address on online portals as well as on resumes. If a candidate has a temporary address, then he/she must prioritize that address on the resume for further correspondence.
References:
Ensure to add at least two references towards the end of a resume. References play a crucial role in determining talent and the authenticity of the information provided in the resume. Many HR professionals say that candidates lose their job because they do not include references. And as per company policies, candidates must be verified at all costs so as to avoid fraudulent practices and identity.
Format:
The outlook of any resume must be neat and uniform. This helps the recruiters to glide through a resume with great ease and efficiency. A candidate at all costs must avoid flashy fonts and maintain a font that is pleasing to the eye such as Tahoma or Times New Roman. Also the size of the fonts play a crucial role in maintaining uniformity. The standard size for the content in resume should be 12 and for headings (if any) must be 14 and bold.
Writing Style:
In the “objective” or the “career summary”, most resumes that we come across are addressed in first person. Candidates use the pronoun “I” and “me” for writing their career objectives, which must not be encouraged. The use of such pronouns dilute professionalism and give a bad impression about an applicant’s attitude toward the jobs.
Shapes:
To provide information such as skill sets and educational qualifications, candidates can always make use of shapes such as boxes and rectangles only. It helps to navigate easily and understand applicant information in a jiffy. It is however, not recommended to use overly flashy shapes like stars, triangles and quadrangles etc.
For more information on resume writing, you can drop in a mail to info@handigital.com