Dear all, 

I would like to ask you : In your experience as recruiters, which are the common mistakes applicants make when writing/sending their resume ?

Can we pl share our thoughts on these ??

Suraj

My experience shows many young people writing resumes with the prefix, "I did this..." and ":I did that...." etc which makes me want to simply dump their resumes in the bin right from the beginning. This is a terrible way to present oneself.

I prefer a one page CV with only the finer points inculded just enough to interest the recepient to want to interview the candidate.

Hi Suraj,

It's my experience that most cover letters are very poorly written. In many cases the cover letter is actually more important than a person's CV. The best cover letters demonstrate that the candidate has taken some time to research the position and the company, rather than just being a "form letter". It entices the reader by quickly highlighting the most critical
points of the resume and links those highlights to the key aspects of the job. If possible the covering letter should communicate some attitudinal hints about the candidate.

As far as resumes go the most common error that I have seen are people that list their job responsibilities. At the end of the day no one really cares about what a person was reasonable for...what they care about is what the person accomplished, how they functioned within the work environment, and how well they got along with their fellow workers. I always encourage my coaching clients who are in career hunt modes to think about PAR's when writing their resume and covering letter. This enables them to clearly
identify their most significant accomplishments. P = problem, A = action that the person took, R = result.

Regards,

javedi

1. First mistake any job seeker does is that he/she forgets to put the CV into the shredder
2. Second mistake he/she still continues to spam the CV to people and organisation who the candidate has not yet made study and nor has a game plan to profit the recruiter

3. The third mistake is that he/she still expects the reply to a CV sent when it is in the waste paper basket or in the delete folder.. The recruiters have enough problem in sifting the CV and one more lands now.. Even the advertised one cause the same misery to the recruiter

Pl read the book of Nick Corcidilos : ASK THE HEADHUNTER

Team,

I am not a cover letter freak. I am a single page bullet point CV man.

One that simply tells me whether the candidate is worth seeing or not.

Once I decide to see him at an interview it is then that I shoot the relevant questions that will indicate to me whether the chap is able to do what he has accomplisehd or not. I also use the tactic of putting the ball on to the candidates court and letting him do the talking by making my question very simple, very precise, curt and requiring lots of story telling by the responder. For example I may choose to ask a question from a software geek as follows:-

"Can you relate the most impressive or significant event that ever occured within your development career"

Now the guy, or even the pretty young missy, has to tell me something. He/She cannot say nothing ever happened in an IT development outfit within, say, sapn of even 5 years service.

Giving the candidate the opportunity to speak out gives the opportunity to test both his ability to express in the language of choice as well as understanding the manner in which he/she relates the actual event/incident from a technical perspective. Kills two birds with one simple single pebble.

Has worked extensively well for me so far and I hope will continue during my remaining years, hopefully.

Ashish