The Resume Screening Process

Top No-No’s That Turn off Recruiters and Result in a Resume Being Cast Aside

The resume screening process is a long and arduous one. Years ago, recruiters sifted through stacks of résumés to separate those most qualified for a particular position. Now, resume screening is digital, scanned or online submission and computer algorithms do the initial sifting. Only the winning few that contain key words matching the required qualifications are passed along to the recruiter, hopefully resulting in the applicants being invited to interview.

Before going any further, it is important to emphasize – Never ever lie, because even the smallest, seemingly innocuous ones have a way of tripping you up. If discovered, you will be discredited because if you lie about one thing, nothing you say can be trusted and, worse still, on the job chances are you will be untrustworthy. 

For example, misleading with inflated work titles, responsibilities, accomplishments or lying about education are big no-no’s.

One candidate claimed to have a B.S. degree. In fact, while she completed all the requirements she had not actually received the degree because she owed the Bursar’s office a fee that had gone unpaid for a while. They would not release the sheepskin until she paid up. So, within the 90-day probation period, the Bank she had started working for discovered the “lie” and terminated her. It was a bit heavy-handed, but avoidable.

Functional qualifications aside, the following is a list of pitfalls that will cause a recruiter to exclude the candidate.

• Template format or complex layout/style with unnecessary cosmetics such as multiple typefaces/font, boxes, frames, tables, headers and footers, shadowing, excessive highlighting and underlining or colors for emphasis.
• Too many pages – résumés shouldn’t be more than 2-3 pages; CV’s can be 3-5 pages.
• Typos, misspelling, poor grammar and syntax;
• Using personal pronouns (I, me, mine, we, us, ours); not written in 1^st person.

Contact Info on Your Resume: 

• Person’s name in outlandishly large font;
• Listing home phone when cell phone will do; 
• Unprofessional email addresses – don’t use tacky wording such as “chickmagnet” or “beerdog”; do use professional conservative address such as Jane Doe2010@gmail.com
• Don’t use work email at employer’s address, such as JoeSmith@VanquishExterminators.com. Get a free personal account at MSN, Google, Yahoo, AOL, etc.
• Don’t list more than one email address or screen name. Publish only the one you use for the job search.
• Including pictures, graphics, or URL links that are byte heavy and will not be opened;
• Discrimination triggers – Photos can be age, race or gender indicators;

Objective on Your Resume: 

The heading “Objective” no longer used. Your job goal is embedded in Summary or Profile which gives reader a thumbnail sketch of who you are and what you want, based on what you can do.

• Make sure you don’t have an insignificant introduction that is cliché and doesn’t really say anything useful.
• Do not refer to long work history. Anything more than 15 years is too long (just say “comprehensively experienced,” or “well-qualified.”
• Do not make bland, generic statements that are obvious or selfish such as “seeking position with stable company.”

Credentials: 

• Important credentials/qualifications/skills should not be listed at end of résumé. Always place at the beginning;

Experience on Your Resume:

Partial, inaccurate or missing employment dates. Don’t try to cover gaps by inaccurately expanding employment dates. 

• Adding in personal information that is not relevant to work history to fill in employment gaps. For example, “Stopped working to have a baby.”
• When employer’s name gives no indication of product or industry, clarify by detailing next to position title. For example, ABC Company; Sales Manager – Cosmetics Manufacturer.
• Improper or unclear position title. For Example, GS7, instead of Administrative Manager (GS7). 

• Unqualified – Trying to twist content to fit a position for which candidate is not suited or has no experience. If you are a recent graduate with no practical experience, be forthright about it – refer to yourself as an early career entrant;
• If practical experience for position you are pursuing is several jobs ago, place your relevant experience under the heading “Related Experience” and under heading “Other Employment” place unrelated employment listing only company name, position and duration, without job description.
• Inappropriate use of functional versus chronological style;
• Don’t list employers’ street address, phone number, supervisor, etc. on a corporate resume. However, do include on a federal resume or CV.
• Task-oriented job description rather than achievement focused, that fails to explain how the candidate added value to their employers through accomplishment; preferably, accomplishments are demonstrated in dollar or percentage measurable; however, if those exact figures are not available you can use descriptives such as “double”, “tenfold”, “significantly”, “exceeding quota” or “several (hundred, thousand, million).”
• Start sentences with a verb. So don’t say “Responsible for verifying credentials” – say “Verify credentials.”
• Dense, narrative paragraphs instead of bullet points. While screening resume the recruiters like to skim through information, not read a book;
• Dates – Don’t go back too far. Ideally, only list experience for last 10-12 years. But definitely don’t list jobs further back than 15 years as they are age indicators. The only exception is if you are pursuing a job for which your experience goes back further than 15 years.

Education/Training on Your Resume: 

• Don’t list elementary, middle and high school education in addition to college/university. It is understood you would not have been accepted into college without having received a high school or equivalent diploma.
• Unless graduated in last 5 years, don’t list date of diploma/degree.
• Because a resume is only about what has happened or is happening, don’t list planned training or anticipated skills.
• Certificates, licenses, etc. resulting from training should be listed under “Credentials.”

Interests on Your Resume: 

• Use “Activities” as the heading;
• Only show community-beneficial activities. Listing clubs, interests, activities, etc. that are irrelevant or problematic just takes up space.
• Be careful about mentioning affiliations with religious, political, ethnic, cultural, or lifestyle-based organizations. This can work against you.
• Don’t list recreational or fun things such as “basketball,” unless it’s relevant to your objective, then “Basketball coach of Youth League” is a useful activity.
• If not a recent graduate, don’t list “Residence Monitor for Alpha Mu Fraternity House or Senator, Student Council.”
• List activities which show you have a community-minded side to your well-balanced life. So, Big Brother/Big Sister, Mentor to Homeless Kids, Pantry Worker at Soup Kitchen, etc. are good indicators of being engaged in social consciousness. It will all come up when screening resume.

Honors/Awards on Your Resume: 

• Don’t list awards from high school such as “Good attendance Award” or “valedictorian.”
• If out of college for more than 5 years, don’t list awards from college. Exception is “graduated magna cum laude or summa cum laude,” “Dean’s List,” “Honor Society for your Major,”or “Recipient, Four-Year Scholarship”

Memberships on Your Resume: 

• Only list professional affiliations, not those associated with college…unless it is an organization that has a life span after college, such as an Alumni Association or Fraternity/Sorority with community-based activities that continue beyond graduation.

References on Your Resume: 

• Don’t list references on the résumé (they belong on a separate sheet) or use the worthless tag line “References available upon request.” .. Would you refuse to produce them if asked at the resume screening? 

Finally, when emailing document don’t transmit as PDF, TIF, JPEG or zip file instead of Microsoft Word attachment.