There are a number of common mistakes made by job hunters when dealing with recruiters. They are common pitfalls so knowing how to avoid them is invaluable. These most usual mistakes as identified by recruiters create a poor impression of the job seeker. In spite of the massive amount of career advice and resume advice available these days, the same basic mistakes crop up again and again. To give your application the best chance of success, take care to avoid the following howlers:
This shows firstly that you don’t care enough about the job to take your time writing and checking your resume. It not only creates a bad impression, but also makes the task of discovering your skills and experiences more difficult for the recruiter.
There’s really no excuse for not including your email address. This is often the easiest way for recruiters to contact you, and if they’ve got to trawl through their inbox to find your original email you are not getting them on your side. And you want the recruiter on your side, don’t you?
If you don’t know anything about the position or the company you will not be hired. It’s that simple. Do a little detective work on what the position entails, on the company’s general philosophy and culture, and on its short- and long-term goals. This will put you in a strong position both on the application form and when it comes to interview.
It’s generally best to avoid the functional resume. They can give the impression that the applicant has something to hide in their work history. Better to go for a chronological resume.
Enthusiasm is great, but the kind of overenthusiasm I’m talking about is applying for every job that’s posted, regardless of how well the job matches the applicant’s qualifications. This scatter fire strategy won’t get you a job, and it will only serve to irritate the recruiter.
Ok, so Works or Word Perfect are not necessarily wrong, but Microsoft Word is the standard. Converting to Word from some other format just unnecessarily costs the recruiter time and energy.