The number one thing employers are most common for is to run a word matching system for certain words or expectations. They may be looking for a certain system, skill, or previous position held. If your resume is flagged as a match with any of the words they are looking for then you made it to the next round and the rest went to the rejection list. That is why you need to make sure you alter your resume for specific jobs or companies.
For a scenario there is a company that just had 1000 applicants turn in their resumes for a position. Some companies will run that program to see if anyone has previous experience with certain systems, has certain skills, or held a position that is similar. This company just ran their program had 200 resumes kick back with matches. 200 is still a lot of resumes to read; therefore, the company starts looking for any reason to hit that reject button whether it is typos, any grammatical errors, or bad formatting. Those are generally the top reasons companies reject resumes. Out of those errors they have 80 applicants left and it is down to the nitty gritty now.
Those 80 resumes are now up for review; yet still do not get fully reviewed. The company will skim over the resumes looking for specifics that are big NO NO moves on a resume. Below are some top reasons you were sent a reject letter and not given a chance for an interview.
1. Address.
By listing your address at the top of your resume you
are setting yourself up for profiling. They will immediately think of how long
your commute is which could result in car trouble, being late, wrecks, traffic,
etc. Next they begin to think of the neighborhood you live and could think
apples don’t fall far from the tree. You do not want to be economically
profiled so just stick with your name and email address in your header.
There just
went 8 more rejected down to 72.
2. Email Address.
If you get a lot of spam then you might consider
opening up a brand new email account just for job hunting. You do not want to
miss that interview because they emailed you. (Trust me that happened to me in
2007 right after I graduated high school and they would not reschedule) When
creating your new email think of being professional or just use your name. Make
sure you do not use 69, @zz, @ss, getsome, hotchik, #1lover, biebzfan,
grandepepe, partylover, beerguzzler, etc. Please make sure you are using
professional phrases, names, and/or numbers for that. They will laugh at you
then reject you.
There just
went 8 more rejected down to 64.
3. Personal/ Religious/Political Affiliations.
You should not have any personal information on
your resume such as date of birth, social security number, age, height, weight,
gender, marital status or even a picture of yourself. Do not add any reference
to any religious or political affiliations even if it was the best volunteer
work you did. None of these topics are any business of that company and you
want to prevent any bias or prejudice from happening.
There just
went 8 more rejected down to 56.
4. Salary
Discussing salary will be in the hiring process or
further on into your interviewing process. By listing your salary up front you
are either eliminating yourself from being hired or you just hindered yourself
from having anything to negotiate when selecting your salary upon hire.
There just
went 5 more rejected down to 51.
5. Resignations, Laid off, or Fired.
You will discuss this in your interviews and it is
always better and easier to discuss these situations in person. By listing it
on your resume you just gave them a chance to fill in the blank with assumption
and reject you. Or the company will see that they have 51 applicants left at
this point and reject any that have a history of being fired.
There just
went 10 more rejected down to 41.
6. Abbreviations, Jargon, or Advanced Wording.
Do not use any wording that would hinder the reader
from understanding your history and what you are capable of. Unless you are
absolutely positive that your resume will be read by people who are 100%
familiar with your terminology then do not use it. Just because you applied for
that IT position doesn’t mean that human resources will understand enough to
send you to the next level. Just make sure that you use generally-understood
words and descriptions to be on the safe side.
There just
went 15 more rejected down to 26.
7. Lies.
There really should be no need to add this on here;
however, it is extremely common for people to do. Just keep in mind that
everything on your resume can be researched and checked or it will be
considered untrue. If by chance it is not something that can be checked you
could asked to provide proof. Even though Alabama is a State where employers
can fire without cause this is considered a legitimate legal cause. It is
considered deliberative untruthfulness on your resume and you will be told to
leave immediately with no notice or severance pay.
There just
went 3 more rejected down to 23.
8. References
Do not add references on your resume until the
company requests them. This could cause a lot of trouble for you. Before you
even know they are considering you for the job they just called your references
to check on you. If any of those are linked to your current employer and they
do not know that you are looking for another job-THEY DO NOW. If you haven’t
advised your references that you are listing them as a reference you just made
it extremely awkward. On top of that your reference is going to call you then
you will be biting your nails waiting to hear from a company that isn’t going
to call. Just wait until they ask for them do not even offer them until asked.
There just
went 11 more rejected down to 12.
Make sure your voicemail is professional so when they call they don't hang up saying "Bye Felicia!" More than likely out of those 12 left from before once the calls start there will be about 7 or 8 who have unprofessional voice-mails or answer the phone with an attitude. Make sure you make it to that first interview and give it your all!
If you need help with any resume building get in contact with me and we will get you interview ready.
