Getting a job in this tight economy necessitates making a great first impression, which leaves little-to-no room for typos and other résumé mistakes. The Washington Post details some ways to help outline your credentials more accurately.
Photo by kafka4prez.
While most of their suggestions aren't revolutionary (see: printing out your résumé), one of their tips seems like an interesting way to help avoid glaring errors. According to the post, prospective employees should review their résumés from the bottom up. The writer contends that this backwards approach will more fully ensure that you don't skip over sections, as opposed to reading from the top down, which may lead to skimming more readily than working your way up.
In interviews with 150 senior executives from the nation's 1,000 largest companies, 40 percent of the respondents said that just one typo on a résumé would kick a job candidate out of the queue for consideration. Thirty percent said it would take just two mistakes before the résumé was discarded.
"The way we see it, there's so much competition out there. There's no room for error," said Natasha Melgar, branch manager of the Washington office of the staffing firm Robert Half International. "The résumé is the first opportunity to present yourself."
With unemployment in some areas in the double digits and job postings drawing hundreds of applicants, I understand the need to quickly weed people out. But zero tolerance for one or two résumé typos is too harsh.
The article also offers some embarrassing résumé gaffes to watch for. Hit up the full link to check them out, then let us know what you do to ensure that your résumé appears spotless in the comments. And remember to ditch these six words from the fold when creating yours.
