Here are four resume myths you shouldn’t believe when writing your resume:
A Good Resume = Job Guarantee
We all know there are no guarantees in life. If you didn’t know that before, these last months should have taught you that. And while having a great resume will definitely keep you at the top of mind to hiring managers looking for someone like you, it doesn’t guarantee you a job.
In fact, many times a resume won’t even ensure you get your foot in the door for an interview, especially if you are sending out emails to people who don’t know you or haven’t heard of you.
A job search strategy in combination with a great resume will get your resume in front of the right hiring manager. Numerous factors go into sorting through resumes for recruiters and hiring managers, so the only thing you can do is your best when writing a resume.
Keep It to One Page
No matter how long you have been in the workforce, you must keep your resume to one page. This is definitely a myth.
The top resume writing services will tell you a two-page resume is perfectly acceptable and even better, especially if you have many years of experience and a significant list of accomplishments.
The worst thing you can do is try to fit it all on one page. You will, no doubt, leave off vital information that may get you in the door.
The best formats are easy to read and incorporate white space throughout the document, so avoid the temptation to stuff as many words as you can onto a single page.
You Can Never Overuse Action Verbs
Action verbs are important when writing an effective resume. What many people don’t realize is there is a difference between a weak action verb and a strong action verb related to resume writing.
Weak action verbs include words like “managed,” “supervised,” and others. They are weak because everyone uses them.
The overuse of these verbs makes them less important, so it is entirely possible to make your resume sound boring when you incorporate them. But you don’t want to sound like a thesaurus by overusing adjectives, action phrases, and keywords that obviously don’t fit.
Read through your resume carefully to make sure it sounds as natural as possible.
Resumes Are No Longer Relevant
There may come a day when this is true, but that day isn’t today! Hiring managers still want a resume, if only to have it on file. It is true they will be reviewing your online profile. But your LinkedIn doesn’t go as deep as your resume.
Having a quality resume may not land you a job on its own, but a bad one can definitely put you out of consideration quickly.
It is difficult to stay current on all the trends with resumes today. But having a quality, branded resume showcasing the value you bring to a potential employer is never out of style.