A resume with no clear professional direction
A document trying to serve very different roles usually contains too much information and no clear priority. Your title and summary should quickly communicate the type of work you want.
Fix: define a target role or field and keep the experience, skills, and education that best support it.
Experience written as a list of duties
Phrases such as “Customer service” or “Report management” do not explain your contribution, scope, or context.
Fix: begin with an action verb and add the object or outcome: “Handled inquiries by phone and email, documenting each issue and following it through resolution.”
Generic or unsupported skills
Listing communication, leadership, and teamwork does not prove those abilities. The same applies to technical tools that never appear in your experience.
Fix: choose relevant skills and demonstrate the most important ones through actions, projects, or results.
Too much information or text that is too small
Including every job, course, and responsibility can hide what matters. Shrinking the font to force everything onto one page damages readability.
Fix: remove repetition, summarize older roles, and allow a second page when the relevant content genuinely requires it.
Unnecessary or incorrect personal information
An outdated phone number or incorrect email can prevent contact. Other details—full address, identification numbers, marital status—are usually unnecessary unless local context specifically requires them.
Fix: keep professional contact channels and the general location needed to assess work arrangement or availability.
An inconsistent or hard-to-scan design
Too many colors, icons, sizes, and styles compete with the content. Weak headings and irregular alignment also make scanning harder.
Fix: use consistent hierarchy, sufficient contrast, clear spacing, and an understandable reading order.
Sending without reviewing the final file
The PDF or DOCX may differ from the preview. Generic filenames such as “resume final 2” also communicate little care.
- Open the file after downloading it.
- Check spelling, dates, and contact details.
- Look for clipping, blank pages, or overflowing text.
- Use a filename such as Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf.
- Confirm you are sending the correct tailored version.