Job seekers today are busy people. They are so busy looking for a job that they don’t even have time to sit down and spend 3-4 hours developing their resume. In most cases, the resumes are written within 2 hours and sent out to a wide range of job openings. After that, most job seekers turn into desperate job seekers as such approach doesn’t bring the expected results in the form of interview appointments. Unfortunately, such people fail to understand that their resume is the ONLY sales tool they have got. In other words, it is the only instrument that can help to obtain the job. People who realize that spend much more time polishing and tailoring their resumes before they get to the offices of their potential employers. 
According to the recent statistics, it takes no longer than 20 seconds to review a resume or CV. Why bother then? Well, the reason is you never know what the eye of HR manager will stumble upon during those 20 seconds. Therefore, your resume has to be perfect, including details you wouldn’t consider important at all. In this article, we would like to look at such details and explain their role in the hiring process.
- Names of the companies. Very often people don’t pay much attention to their previous employers, while their potential employers do. Consider not only listing the names of the companies you have worked for but also what those companies did. Obviously, you don’t need to give the full company’s description, but two lines about a company may be helpful for a hiring authority representative.
- Errors. Why would someone disqualify me from the job on the basis of typos, grammar, or spelling errors? The argument is clear and even makes sense. However, the fact is that most HR managers consider the absence of any errors a critical component of a professional resume. A little bit of proofreading should help you avoid those mistakes that can cost you an opportunity.
- Order. Some people still believe that listing their experience in chronological order is right. The problem with this approach is that people who will be reading your resume want just the opposite. They are interested in the most recent experience first, not what you have done 20 years ago. So reverse-chronological order is a must in 90% of cases.
- Personal info. We don’t recommend including personal information onto your resume (except the address and contact information) because it can work against you. On the other hand, it will unlikely do any good to you.
- Photos. If you think your photo on a resume will help you land an interview, you are wrong. You may think that your photo is gorgeous, but an HR representative may have a different opinion. In any way, this is just a risk to be eliminated.
- Earnings. There is no good reason to mention your past earnings on your resume. This will automatically eliminate you as a candidate for many jobs.
- Email. Make sure your email address sounds professional enough not to become a turn-off. Many job seekers forget that the email they have used when they were in high school might not be appropriate for applying for a senior management position. The aforementioned details won’t necessarily disqualify you from getting a job, but they certainly may. Our logic then boils down to why risk it all? The devil is in the detail. You can work hard and spend hours on looking for employment opportunities, but if the eye of a hiring authority representative will come across small inconsistency or error, the chances of getting an interview invitation will fall down to almost nothing. Why risk it all?
