8 Common Resume Mistakes College Students Make
by Sumona Job & Career 28 March 2022
College is a period for exploring your interests, skills, and passion. As a college student, you should consider what you want to be involved in when you enter into the “real world.” But when you are making minor resume mistakes, your job hunting will be a much more lengthy process.
However, know that even an entry-level resume needs to express that you’ve been working towards your goal. Therefore, you must take maximum advantage of your years in college to gain valuable skills, which could be through internships and part-time jobs.
But, the question is, how do you exhibit your experience when you have little work history?
8 Common Resume Mistakes College Students Make
Remember, first impressions matter a lot, so when it’s about your job search, your professional resume is your first impression. Moreover, you have only 6-15 seconds to make a good impact, so ensure your resume makes you worthy enough by avoiding common resume mistakes college students make.
1. Errors In Grammar And Spelling
Not knowing where and how to apply commas and other punctuation marks cause an employer to have an unfavorable impression of you. These resume mistakes imply that it is either you do not care or that you are not detail-oriented in your approach to crucial things.
For example, there is a clear difference between “you’re” and “your,” between “lose” and “loose,” and so on.
2. Resume Being Longer Than One Page
It is a general rule of thumb that your resume should neatly fit onto one page, especially when you are still early in your career. Do not bore your employer by making your resume too long. Extra-long resume creations are serious resume mistakes.
After all, they have a very limited attention span since they have a lot of resumes to go through, as statistics show that hiring managers use an average of 6 seconds going through a resume.
The urge to cram all your accomplishments on your resume may be so strong, but always remember only your best and the most relevant accomplishments should be highlighted. The rest may be brought up during the job interview if need be.
3. Inclusion Of Irrelevant Pieces Of Information
Avoiding irrelevant information is the easiest way to cut your resume down to just one page. Avoid adding information like leaving the debate team after your selection for freshman of the year.
Every activity you participated in, etc. They are so irrelevant. Recruits are caring more about the skills which they have learned and the skills that they are still learning.
Furthermore, rather than listing the three classes you once took on public speaking, you could list public speaking as a skill and perhaps, include an event where you practiced it. Also, you can highlight the volunteer works you have done or that you may be doing.
4. Overlooking The Design Of Your Resume
Perhaps, you do not have to make resume mistakes with irrelevant details on your resume, and you still find it difficult to have just one page. Then you decided to shrink the font size to fit the one-page mark.
That’s not the best answer in that situation because the design of your resume would appear clumsy and unpleasant to the sight.
Word processing templates are recommended for you for your resume design, and you do not have to be a graphic designer as a student before you can have a well-designed resume.
5. Ignorance of When to Use a Functional Resume, Rather than a Chronological Resume
The adage that says you need to have the experience to get experience can’t be completely ruled out, but if you are lacking in work history, there are other ways to get that entry-level job or internship.
As a university student, your resume tends to be loaded with short-term work that isn’t relevant to the position or career you are pursuing on. Or you may not even have any work experience at all. Here’s where functional resume mistakes come to aid.
A functional resume can also be called a skills resume; It stresses your abilities over your experience, which can be very helpful when you are trying to secure your first job or internship. You should use a functional resume to highlight what you’re capable of accomplishing and then give a summary of your work experience (if any) at the end.
6. Failure To Include Numbers And Action Verbs
One of the biggest resume mistakes is that many experienced resume writers use general language to describe previous jobs. For example, instead of only listing every single responsibility you had at a particular job, you should precisely mention what you accomplished.
For instance, instead of just saying you managed several social media accounts, mention that you were able to grow the followers of four social media accounts by 20% in eight months.
7. Failure to Use a Professional Email
Avoid using your school email or emails like sexyqween@gmail.com. Such emails decrease your credibility and professional approach. Research shows that about 76% of resumes are usually discarded due to an unprofessional email address.
When applying for jobs and internship opportunities, never use anything other than an email based on your name and a limited number of special characters. An unprofessional mail drop is counted under the serious resume mistakes for any type of job seeker.
8. Failure To Proofread Your Resume
Irrespective of how skilled a writer you are or how sharp your attention is to details, a fresh or different set of eyes will pick up mistakes or tweaks your work requires, which you may never have spotted. Typographical resume mistakes errors are the easiest way to have your resume tossed in the trash.
Ensure you get a friend, a teacher, or any fresh and sharp set of eyes that will give your resume a read and point out overlooked necessary corrections.
Creating A Mistake Free Resume
If you do not expect to have your resume thrown into junk files, you must avoid making any mistakes while creating it. Your resume needs to stimulate the interest and curiosity of the recruiter if you desire to secure that position.
After carefully putting up your resume, put yourself in the position of an employer or admission officer, and watch out for these common resume mistakes. After proofreading backward and forward, repeat the process the next day until all avoidable errors are corrected. After that, you can proceed to submit.
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