Resume Help... Top 10 Problems

The 'Top 10' Problems Requiring Resume Help

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6) Not Targeting The Job Opening

The old ‘shotgun' approach is fading fast. To land an interview in this tough economic climate, seekers need to target a position opening and gently steer their resume toward that position. Beyond the obvious need to target the resume's objective, don't overlook the balance of the document – including the work history. Selectively highlight those skills and past job experiences that speak to the position you're seeking.

7) Lousy GPA

For new or recent graduates: If your overall GPA is less than 3.0 do NOT put it on your resume. If your major GPA is 3.0 or higher, while your overall is less than 3.0, include your major GPA only. You can include both your overall and your major GPA on your resume if both are 3.0 or higher, and your major GPA is stronger than your overall (say, two to three tenths of a percentage point higher).

8) Personal Information

Decades ago, it was more common than not to see resumes chock full of personal information like marital status, number of children if any, social security number, height and weight, health status and the like. No longer. Leave all of this information off the resume, as none of it is indicative of your value to the prospective employer, and any of it could be used–overtly, subtly or even unconsciously–to discriminate and screen you out.

Look here for more information on What To Leave Off Your Resume.

9) References

Keep references off your resume. References belong on a separate page, a page to be presented only upon request by a company official. At most, you can note "references available upon request" at the bottom of the resume, but even that is not necessary. The availability of references is assumed.

At some point in the resume writing process ... you're going to be asking yourself, "Should I have a professional write my resume?" The answer may be yes... if your resume is going to be fighting for attention in an extremely competitive field, or if your work history or job qualifications are difficult for you to express in a promotion and unbiased manner. Former recruiter David Alan Carter put the Web's most popular resume writing services through their paces – comparing writing quality, customer service, pricing and more. See who came out on top... Reviews of Resume Writers

Many hiring officials will toss a resume if they encounter even a single misspelling. Why? Because they've got too many resumes to plow through to bother with a candidate who apparently doesn't care enough about the job hunt to get the resume language spot on and accurate. Can you blame them? After all, the job hunt is your job for the time being. Treat it like it's a job, because you're being evaluated like it's a job.

Spell check, spell check, spell check. And when you're finished with the spell check, have at least two friends or family members comb the resume for grammatical errors or anything else that could be a problem. Don't blow an otherwise good shot at an interview by insisting on the resume that you're a "self-motivated individdle" with "excellent tim management skils." 

Best of luck.

–David Alan Carter

Now, you can do this. It's certainly within your power to put together a polished, professional-looking resume that will generate results... with some effort.

But if your resume is going to be fighting for attention in a highly competitive field, or if you're job qualifications are difficult to express in a promotion (and yet unbiased) manner, you might consider turning the project over to a pro. On our review page, we line up the leading Professional Resume Writers on the Web, reviewing quality of workmanship, spelling out pricing, and giving each a star ranking.

Note: our "top pick" actually guarantees that you'll get interviews with their resume. That's something to think about in this tough job market.

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