I've sent out hundreds of resumes over my career, applying for
just about every kind of job. I've personally reviewed more than 20,000
resumes. And at Google we sometimes get more than 50,000 resumes in a
single week.
I have seen A LOT of resumes.
Some are
brilliant, most are just ok, many are disasters. The toughest part is
that for 15 years, I've continued to see the same mistakes made again
and again by candidates, any one of which can eliminate them from
consideration for a job. What's most depressing is that I can tell from
the resumes that many of these are good, even great, people. But in a
fiercely competitive labor market, hiring managers don't need to
compromise on quality. All it takes is one small mistake and a manager
will reject an otherwise interesting candidate.
I know this is
well-worn ground on LinkedIn, but I'm starting here because -- I promise
you -- more than half of you have at least one of these mistakes on
your resume. And I'd much rather see folks win jobs than get passed
over.
In the interest of helping more candidates make it past that
first resume screen, here are the five biggest mistakes I see on
resumes.
Mistake 1: Typos. This one seems obvious, but it happens again and again. A 2013 CareerBuilder survey found that 58% of resumes have typos.
In
fact, people who tweak their resumes the most carefully can be
especially vulnerable to this kind of error, because they often result
from going back again and again to fine tune your resume just one last
time. And in doing so, a subject and verb suddenly don't match up, or a
period is left in the wrong place, or a set of dates gets knocked out of
alignment. I see this in MBA resumes all the time. Typos are deadly
because employers interpret them as a lack of detail-orientation, as a
failure to care about quality. The fix?
Read your resume from
bottom to top: reversing the normal order helps you focus on each line
in isolation. Or have someone else proofread closely for you.
Mistake 2: Length.
A good rule of thumb is one page of resume for every ten years of work
experience. Hard to fit it all in, right? But a three or four or ten
page resume simply won't get read closely. As Blaise Pascal wrote, "I
would have written you a shorter letter, but I did not have the time." A
crisp, focused resume demonstrates an ability to synthesize,
prioritize, and convey the most important information about you. Think
about it this way: the *sole* purpose of a resume is to get you an
interview. That's it. It's not to convince a hiring manager to say "yes"
to you (that's what the interview is for) or to tell your life's story
(that's what a patient spouse is for). Your resume is a tool that gets
you to that first interview. Once you're in the room, the resume doesn't
matter much. So cut back your resume. It's too long.
Mistake 3: Formatting.
Unless you're applying for a job such as a designer or artist, your
focus should be on making your resume clean and legible. At least ten
point font. At least half-inch margins. White paper, black ink.
Consistent spacing between lines, columns aligned, your name and contact
information on every page. If you can, look at it in both Google Docs
and Word, and then attach it to an email and open it as a preview.
Formatting can get garbled when moving across platforms. Saving it as a
PDF is a good way to go.
Mistake 4: Confidential information.
I once received a resume from an applicant working at a top-three
consulting firm. This firm had a strict confidentiality policy: client
names were never to be shared. On the resume, the candidate wrote:
"Consulted to a major software company in Redmond, Washington."
Rejected! There's an inherent conflict between your employer's needs
(keep business secrets confidential) and your needs (show how awesome I
am so I can get a better job). So candidates often find ways to honor
the letter of their confidentiality agreements but not the spirit. It's a
mistake. While this candidate didn't mention Microsoft specifically,
any reviewer knew that's what he meant. In a very rough audit, we found
that at least 5-10% of resumes reveal confidential information. Which
tells me, as an employer, that I should never hire those candidates ...
unless I want my own trade secrets emailed to my competitors.
The New York Times test is helpful here: if you wouldn't want to see it on the home page of the NYT with your name attached (or if your boss wouldn't!), don't put it on your resume.
Mistake 5: Lies. This
breaks my heart. Putting a lie on your resume is never, ever, ever,
worth it. Everyone, up to and including CEOs, get fired for this.
(Google "CEO fired for lying on resumes" and see.) People lie about
their degrees (three credits shy of a college degree is not a degree),
GPAs (I've seen hundreds of people "accidentally" round their GPAs up,
but never have I seen one accidentally rounded down -- never), and where
they went to school (sorry, but employers don't view a degree granted
online for "life experience" as the same as UCLA or Seton Hall). People
lie about how long they were at companies, how big their teams were, and
their sales results, always goofing in their favor.
There are
three big problems with lying: (1) You can easily get busted. The
Internet, reference checks, and people who worked at your company in the
past can all reveal your fraud. (2) Lies follow you forever. Fib on
your resume and 15 years later get a big promotion and are discovered?
Fired. And try explaining that in your next interview. (3) Our Moms
taught us better. Seriously.
So this is how to mess up your
resume. Don't do it! Hiring managers are looking for the best people
they can find, but the majority of us all but guarantee that we'll get
rejected.
The good news is that -- precisely because most resumes have these kinds of mistakes -- avoiding them makes you stand out.
In
a future post, I'll expand beyond what not to do, and cover the things
you *should* be doing to make your resume stand out from the stack.
1. Harvard university 哈佛大学
校训:let plato be your friend, and aristotle, but more let your friend be truth.(与亚里士多德为友,与柏拉图为友, 更与真理为友)
优势专业:历史学、工商管理、数学、经济学、英语学、物理学、心理学、社会学、生理学、政治学、生物化学、化学、地球科学等
2. Princeton university 普林斯顿大学
校训:in the nation's service and in the service of all nations (为国家服务,为世界服务)
优势专业:政治与政府学、公共政策、计算机科学、航天工程、机械工程、电子工程、化学工程等。
3. Yale university 耶鲁大学
校训:lux et veritas(光明与真知)
优势专业:社会科学、人文科学、生命科学
4. Massachusetts institute of technology 麻省理工学院
校训:mens et manus (既要学会动脑,也要学会动手)
优势专业:电子工程、机械工程、物理学、化学、经济学、哲学、政治学
5. Stanford university 斯坦福大学
校训:the wind of freedom blows (让自由之风吹拂心灵)
优势专业:企业管理、法律、英语、心理学、政治、历史
6. California institute of technology 加州理工学院
校训:the truth shall make you free (真理使人自由)
优势专业:物理、工程、化学、生物、天文学、地质学、经济与政治学
7. University of pennsylvania 宾夕法尼亚大学
校训:leges sine moribus vanae (法无德不立) 优势专业:人类学、经济学、艺术史、语言学、心理学、音乐和拉丁语
8. Columbia university 哥伦比亚大学
校训:in lumine tuo videbimus lumen (在你的光明中看到光明)
优势专业:建筑学、mba、金融、艺术史、天文、生物科学、化学、计算机科学、数学、物理、地质、心理学、社会学、哲学、政治学、宗教、电影、历史、经济学、英语、法语、西班牙语及东亚和中亚语言文学系等。
9. Duke university 杜克大学
校训:eruditio et religio (知识和虔诚)
优势专业:政治学、公共政策、历史、化学、电子工程和生物医学工程
10. University of chicago 芝加哥大学
校训:crescat scientia; vita excolatur (益智厚生) 优势专业:人类学、天文学、地球科学、经济学、地理学、历史学、语言学、物理学、统计学、社会学、神学
11. Dartmouth college 达特茅斯学院
校训:vox clamantis in deserto (空谷足音) 优势专业:生物,计算机,工程,经济,外语,心理学
12. Northwestern university 西北大学
校训:quaecumque sunt vera (凡事求真)
优势专业:新闻学院、法学院、商学院
13. Washington university in st. louis 圣路易斯华盛顿大学
校训:strength through truth (力量借助于真理)
优势专业:本科:历史、经济学、医科预备课程、工程、建筑和商科等 研究生:计算机科学、地理学、数学、微生物学、分子生物学、心理学、政治学、统计学、社会学、动物学等
14. Cornell university 康奈尔大学
校训:i would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study. (我要创立一个学校,在这里任何人都可以找到任何学科的指导)
优势专业:农学院、 化学系、 数学系和酒店管理系
15.Johns hopkins university 约翰霍普金斯大学
校训:the truth shall make you free (真理使你们自由)
优势专业:医科和工科、社会科学和人文学科
16. Brown university 布朗大学
校训:in deo speramus (我们信赖上帝)
优势专业:本科:计算机科学、宗教、应用数学 研究生:应用数学、古典文学、机械工程、比较文学、哲学、美术史、俄语、数学、英语、西班牙语、历史、土木工程、经济、地质科学、计算机科学、法语、物质科学、语言学、德语、心理学
17. Rice university 莱斯大学
校训:letters, science, art
优势专业:工程、管理、科学、艺术、人类学
18. Emory university 埃默里大学
校训:the prudent heart will possess knowledge (聪明人的心得知识)
优势专业:医学、牙医学、法律、化学、心理学、历史、哲学、数学、英语等
19. University of notre dame 圣母大学
校训:vita, dulcedo, spes (生命,甜蜜,希望)
优势专业:商科
20. Vanderbilt university 范德堡大学
校训:education, a debt due from present to future generations (教育是从这一代到下一代的责任)
优势专业:医学预科,工程,数学,社会学,心理学,教育学
21. University of california-berkeley 加州大学伯克利分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:人类学、化学、工程、历史、音乐、统计和生物统计
22. Carnegie mellon university 卡内基美隆大学
校训:my heart is in the work (我心在工作)
优势专业:软件工程、计算机、机器人科学、理学、美术及工业管理
23. Georgetown university 乔治城大学
校训:utraque unum (合而为一)
优势专业:美国研究、历史、外交事务、政府和神学
24. University of virginia 弗吉尼亚大学
校训:that i may serve
优势专业:商学院
25. University of california-los angeles 加州大学洛杉矶分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:逻辑学、等离子学、应用数学、金融学、分析学、微生物学、国际商业管理
26. University of michigan-ann arbor密西根大学-安娜堡分校
校训:artes, scientia, veritas(艺术,知识,真理)
优势专业:商学、工程、医学、护理、法律、公共事务、心理学、社会学和历史
27. University of southern california 南加州大学
校训:palmam qui meruit ferat (有功受奖)
优势专业:会计、企业管理、石油工程、古生物学、国际商业管理、地球物理学和地震学、计算机工程、电子工程、人工智能
28. Tufts university 塔夫斯大学
校训:peace and light (和平与光明)
优势专业:医科、牙科、法律、外交、职业治疗学
29. Wake forest university 维克森林大学
校训:for humanity (为了博爱)
优势专业:商科、经济学、英语、生物学和心理学
30. University of north carolina-chapel hill 北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校
校训:lux libertas (光明自由)
优势专业:古典文学、英文历史、政治学和社会学
31. Brandeis university 布兰迪斯大学
校训:emet (真理)
优势专业:生物化学、物理、化学、生物、计算机科学、英文、历史、政治科学和经济
32. College of william and mary 威廉玛丽学院
校训:hark upon the gale 倾听呼啸的大风
优势专业:殖民史,会计,历史学,公共事务,生物,物理,法学,商学。
33. New york university 纽约大学
校训:perstare et praestare (坚持和超越)
优势专业:mba、会计、金融、国际贸易、化学、数学、生物、教育、卫生、法律、医药、通信、公共服务、艺术、电影、电视、戏剧、音乐和表演艺术
34. Boston college 波士顿学院
校训:αιεναριστευειν (不断超越)
优势专业:生物工程,非洲历史,法学院
35. Georgia institute of technology乔治亚理工学院
校训:progress and service (前进和服务)
优势专业:工业工程、生物医学工程、航天工程、土木工程、计算机工程、电子工程、环境工程、机械工程、计算机科学
36. Lehigh university 里海大学
校训:man, the servant and interpreter of nature (人类是大自然的理解者和仆人)
优势专业:工业工程、制造工程、材料工程、土木工程、会计,财务和经济学、建筑,心理学、政府,新闻系
37. University of california-san diego 加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:化学、语言学、微生物学、西班牙语、物理学、心理学
38. University of rochester 罗切斯特大学
校训:meliora (做得更好)
优势专业:英语、音乐、历史、政治学、心理学、数学和光学
39. University of wisconsin-madison 威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校
校训:the divine within the universe, however manifested, is my light or god, our light
优势专业:教育、地理、历史、商和社会学
40. University of illinois-urbana-champaign 伊利诺伊大学厄本那香槟分校
校训:learning and labor (学习和劳动)
优势专业:物理学, 化学, 心理学, 会计学, 大众传播学、教育、人文、艺术、法律、工程学
41. Case western reserve university 凯斯西储大学
校训:veritas (真理)
优势专业:生物医学工程、管理、护理学、药学、法学
42. Rensselaer polytechnic institute 伦斯勒理工学院
校训:knowledge and thoroughness (知识与严谨)
优势专业:照明、多媒体/视觉、核工程、材料工程、计算机工程、电子通信工程、制造工程、机械工程、应用数学、城市规划、生物工程、航天工程、环境工程、化工
43. University of washington 华盛顿大学
校训:let there be light (让光明到来)
优势专业:护理、生物工程、核物理、统计学、计算机科学、计算机工程、电子工程、航空航天、土木工程、环境工程、应用数学、社会学、公共管理
44. University of california-davis加州大学戴维斯分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:植物科学,动物科学,兽医科学以及农业经济和管理科学
45. University of california-irvine 加州大学欧文分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:管理、人文、美术、信息系统、地球科学、生物、经济学、生物科学、社会科学
46. University of california-santa barbara 加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校
校训:fiat lux (愿知识之光普照大地)
优势专业:生物 商业经济 心理学 政治科学 通讯 电脑科学 英语 电机工程学 法律及社会 电脑工程学
47. Pennsylvania state university-university park 宾州州立大学
校训:making life better (使生活更好)
优势专业:原子分子光学、高分子物理、生物科学
48. University of texas-austin德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校
校训:disciplina praesidium civitatis(教育,社会的保卫者)
优势专业:新闻传媒、计算机、地质学、物理、教育、法学
49. University of florida佛罗里达大学
校训:civium in moribus rei publicae salus (国家的利益取决于其人民的道德)
优势专业:商科,管理,营销,社会科学,工程,交流学,新闻学,健康管理和其他临床医学
50. Yeshiva university 叶史瓦大学
校训:不详
优势专业:生物