Common Resume Errors

There are some errors that seem to be popping up in almost everyone's resumes, so I thought I'd briefly discuss them here. Also, check out the various critiques for your peers' resumes - it is likely that you will find helpful advice in them.

1. Font
• You all need to know the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts. Typically, sans-serif fonts are good for Headings and serif fonts are good for body text. This will help with contrast and grouping, which will help your reader get through your material quickly.
• Font size should never be smaller than 11 pt., and many of you are using 10 or even 9 pt. font. Making font smaller is not an effective solution to keeping your resume on one page. Try trimming irrelevant material instead.
• Play around with fonts. "Times New Roman" (serif) and "Arial" (sans-serif) are default fonts. Default is the opposite of unique.
2. Bullet Points
• Many of your bullet points do not use consistent verb structures. Also, they do not use action verbs. Please re-read my Instructor Blog regarding these elements (under the 'Experience' heading).
• See Nicole VanDeLeest’s resume for an example of excellent bullet point structure
3. Typography
In most cases, your strategies for when to use boldface are very unclear. Pick ONE thing that gets bolded, for example, your job positions all get bolded. Nothing else should get bolded. That way, the strategy will be clear to your reader. Also, do the same for italics, underlining, etc.
4. This is kind of a random point, but it is of strong importance: some of your phrases end with periods and others don't. Quickly look through your resume and make sure that you use periods consistently. As a general rule, objective statements and bullet points don't need periods.