Home Improvement

By Jennifer Anthony, Resume Expert

You may already have a suspicion that your resume is not very effective or you would not be reading this article right now. It could be that you are not getting a response from your resume at all, or perhaps the responses you are getting seem inappropriate (i.e. you are continually contacted for sales jobs when you are an IT professional).

Here are the top three clues that it’s time to send your resume to the paper shredder.

1. Typos

This one should be obvious. If you are serious about job hunting, you should proofread your resume. Don’t get so excited about a job that you just throw something together and send it off.

Furthermore, proofreading does not mean relying on your spell checker. The Word spell checker doesn’t know that you meant to type “from” when you actually typed “form”. When you skip this vital step, you’re putting your career at risk. Dump it!

2. Irrelevant information

If you have your hobbies listed, marital status, or any other personal information listed, toss it! Honestly, it has nothing to do with how you will perform on the job, so no one really cares.

Additionally, if you have jobs that are not related to your career goal, your hiring manager might have doubts about your dedication to your career. For instance, if you are in real estate, there is no need to list a job in a completely different career like graphic design, it won’t help you.

3. Poor layout and design

Take your resume, print it off, and look at it from a distance. Can you see a definite layout, or does it all look inconsistent? When your information is poorly presented, it makes it hard to concentrate on. You want people to be interested in what they are reading. An appealing presentation is key!

Take another look. Could a hiring manager see your most valuable skills in a glance? If not, time to toss it.

Don’t try to revive it – just scrap it and have a “do over”. A fresh perspective will most likely fuel your creativity.

If you need ideas, check out the following pages:

Monster.com resume center – good ideas here and TONS of up-to-date information.

NothingButCoverLetters.com – awesome articles and cover letter samples from a former professional resume writer

And should you decide that it’s all too much of a headache, utilize the services of a professional resume writer to help you. You will rid yourself of the problem and get a resume that will get you results!