1. No clear target
A resume that tries to be right for everything ends up being right for nothing. Every resume should target a specific role or a very small family of roles. Adjust the summary, skills, and bullets for each application.
2. Generic summary with buzzwords
"Results-driven professional with strong communication skills" is filler. Replace it with a specific role, years of experience, and one concrete proof point.
3. Responsibilities instead of achievements
Recruiters know what a project manager does. What they don't know is what you accomplished. Replace "responsible for" bullets with action-outcome pairs.
4. No metrics
Numbers make claims credible. If your resume is entirely qualitative, look for scale, time, quality, adoption, or recognition data and add at least one metric to your top three bullets.
5. Typos and grammar errors
A single typo undermines an otherwise strong resume. Read out loud. Ask a friend. Use a spell checker, then re-read what the spell checker missed. Pay attention to homophones: their/there, its/it's, affect/effect.
6. Wrong length
Two pages with half a page of content reads as padded. One page that crams everything with no breathing room reads as desperate. Match length to experience level.
7. Inconsistent formatting
Dates, headings, bullet styles, and spacing should be identical throughout. Inconsistency suggests carelessness.
8. Unprofessional email address
Use firstname.lastname@ or firstname@. Not party4life@ or coolguy98@. If your current email is unprofessional, create a new one just for job applications.
9. Missing contact information
Phone, email, and city at minimum. LinkedIn if it's current. GitHub or portfolio for technical and design roles. Missing contact details cost you interviews directly.
10. Illegible fonts or tiny text
No smaller than 10.5 pt. Standard fonts. Nothing decorative that isn't a heading. If a reader has to zoom in, you've lost them.
11. Photo, birthdate, marital status
Not in most markets. These introduce bias and risk ATS parsing failures. Remove them unless the posting or local convention explicitly expects them.
12. Lies or exaggerations
A resume is a factual document. Inflated titles, invented projects, or exaggerated metrics will catch up with you — in the interview, in the reference check, or on the job. Stay honest.
13. Explaining reasons for leaving
Your resume lists what you did, not why you left. Save that discussion for the interview. Adding "left because of layoffs" or "company downsized" on a resume signals insecurity.
14. No customization per application
Sending the same resume to 100 jobs rarely works. A small amount of tailoring — 15 minutes per application — dramatically improves your response rate.
15. Poor file name
Name your file Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf. Not resume-final-v3-actual.pdf, not myresume.pdf. Recruiters see hundreds of files. Make yours easy to find later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which mistakes are most damaging?
Typos, wrong target, and missing metrics. These cost you interviews almost immediately. Formatting issues matter, but content issues matter more.
How do I catch typos I keep missing?
Print the resume. Read it on paper. Read it backwards. Have someone else read it. Change the font temporarily — unfamiliar fonts make errors easier to spot.
Is a two-column layout always a mistake?
No, but it's a risk. If you use two columns, keep important content in the main column and never put contact info in a sidebar where ATS can't find it.
Should I send my resume in Word or PDF?
PDF by default. Use Word only if the application explicitly requests it.