Business Documents: Ten Most Outlandish Resume Mistakes
Forbes. com recently reported that CareerBuilder conducted a survey of 2,534 hiring managers to unearth 10 of the most outlandish statements employers have ever seen on resumes:
- Candidate listed “God” as a reference. No phone number provided.
- Candidate listed her hobby as “alligator watching.”
- Candidate claimed to be a direct descendant of the Vikings.
- Candidate’s email address had “loves beer” in it.
- Candidates listed “Master of Time and Universe” as part of his experience.
- Candidate began application with “Do you want a tiger?”
- Candidate listed condition for accepting position was “being able to bring my pet monkey to work with me.”
- Candidate predicted, “I’ll have your job in five years.”
- Candidate sent a twenty-four page resume spanning five years.
- Candidate put a picture of her cat at the top of her resume.
I was prompted to share this list because I recently interviewed someone who was very well qualified on paper for a registration support position for our business writing courses, which required very close attention to detail. I was trying to understand how she prioritized her skills, so I asked her what she considered to be her best characteristic. Her response: “My hair.”
It’s so important to keep focus on audience in all business documents, including resumes. Companies are not interested in our individual quirks. Companies need to know the relevant skills you will bring to the position.
As you begin to write your resume, be sure you focus first on audience. What are their needs and how can you meet them?
