Resume Misery - Are You Making Any of These 3 Deadly Resume Mistakes?

People rushing to write a resume, leave out important stuff and put in stuff not needed; in other words they "blow it."

Let's look at 3 of the deadliest resume writing mistakes job applicants make, and what to do instead. 

Mistake No. 1 - Unexplained Employment Gaps - People show gaps in employment between, let's say, job three and job four, with no explanation. Others don't fill (explain) the gap until later in the resume. Too late. Your resume has been tossed or placed on the "big pile" never to be seen again. Pro recruiters check for gaps in employment first. Acid test to toss resumes fast. 

What to do instead: Show explanation (going to school, raising children, caring for a sick family member, etc.) in  same format as job listing. First line in caps show NAME OF COLLEGE, City, State. Show years only, no months, 2000-2003. Next line bold face upper and lower case: Pursuing BS degree in Accounting, minor in Finance. Next, insert brief description of part time work to "help defray school expenses." Gap filled.

Mistake No. 2 - Thinking someone will spend more than 11 seconds reading your resume - First time through, 11 seconds is average time spent with your resume. Less than 6 seconds at job fairs. You don't get a second chance to make good first impression with your resume, on line, by mail or by FAX. Recruiters each have stack of 200-plus trying to cut 97% of them. No lie. 

What to do instead: Use two-page resume if you have had more than two jobs. Cramming your info on one page hurts you. Use two pages and lots of "white space." Use one inch margins all way around text. No type font smaller than 11pt. Plain black, no colors. Ivory classic-laid 24lb paper when you use hard copies. 

Mistake No. 3 - Italics. Italics. Italics. - Huge mistake. Puzzling; some big outplacement firms use italics making your resume harder to read. Watch what happens when your italics-strewn  resume gets faxed. Ugly. Who is watching out for you? No one! 

What to do instead: Take control. Be militant. No italics. Select one type face and stick with it. No artwork or images unless you are applying for graphic arts job. Don't underline and don't use ruled lines. Use bold face upper and lower case for your job titles and caps light face for your places of employment. Italics are not your friends in/on a resume.