Do not make these mistakes in your Canadian Resume.

An average Canadian recruiter spends 6 seconds looking at a resume. You need to get their attention within this time, and make them like your resume to call you for the job interview. In this blog, we share at the 12 common resume mistakes you MUST avoid to be called for a job interview.

1. Don’t mention your education first. Start with your professional experience.

There may be hundreds of people with the same education as yours. But only you who has that particular experience that the recruiter or hiring manager needs. So mention your experience first, get their attention. Put your education at the end of the resume.

2. Don’t write your job duties in the resume. Mention what you achievement, what your greatest contributions were, along with the results you delivered using numbers and metrics. There’s nothing more boring than using boring, generic sentences.
3. Don’t use the same resume for every job. Tailor your resume for each job. Invest more time in updating your resume, and highlight your most relevant experiences and achievements. A pro tip, paste the job description into a word cloud generator www.monkeylearn.com/word-cloud and add those key words in your resume, strategically. This will help your resume to be shortlisted by Applicant Tracking Systems i.e. automated resume shortlisting.
4. Ensure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes…use grammerly or google auto correct. Spelling mistakes in a resume can leave a very bad impression on the employer or recruiter.
5. Put a link to your linkedin profile in your resume. That gives the recruiter a second chance to look at your achievements and experiences. Linkedin is more general about who you are and resume should be very specific.
6. Don’t include cliches or buzzwords in your resume like detail-ortiented, team player, results-driven, self-motivated, hardworking, season etc. They’re hard to hear, aren’t they? Imagine how painful yet boring it must be for the recruiter. But you should include job specific soft skills in your resume.
7. Don’t make a very long resume. A resume should be 1-2 pages only, ideally 400-600 words.
8. Omitting important information or including irrelevant information. Don’t add your gender, date of birth, religion, ID number, etc. That’s irrelevant. But do include your email, phone, linkedin profile, and career highlights.
9. Another mistake is using a generic or unprofessional email address. Don’t use [email protected], use your [email protected]
10. Don’t put your headshot or photo in the resume. While it may be good at times, it can also create an uncious bias against you based on your appearance.
11. If you must use a photo, don’t put a 10 year old picture. That just shows you’re too lazy or too nostalgic about your youth. Don’t put the photo you got for free from your cousin’s wedding. Utilize a professional photographer to use a professional, updated headshot or photo in business attire.
12. Don’t use a very wordy or crowed resume format. Use a format that is visually appealing and easy on the eyes.

If you’d like to download my resumes, check out this page on our website.