As a recruiter, I’m looking at resumes all day long. Unfortunately, the number of resumes that need to be proofed is increasing. It’s extremely hard to find errors in something you have written so try:
1. Yes, as a fist step, use your computer’s spell check program. It will catch obvious errors.
2. Do what we all learned, proof and then re-proof. Read it from the bottom to the top. This will help you concentrate on each word.
3. Now go back and look for inconsistencies. Did you keep to your format?
4. Sent it to a friend. First, to make sure that when you emailed it, it held its format. Second, to make sure your deletions, additions and format changes do not show. Third, for proofreading.
5. Sent it to someone else who is not in the field. Can they understand what you do? If they can’t, you might want to rework your resume. Remember, the first person seeing your resume may not be a communications person. If they cannot understand what your do at first glance, you may not make it to the second round.
6. Remember, you can always ask a recruiter to review your resume. While we advise candidates to makes changes for a specific position, we can often offer suggestions to help you to present yourself more effectively or figure out why you might be having a problem.
Marie Raperto, Cantor Executive Search Solutions Inc.
Q: Is this a joke? I count at least four misspelled words and that’s to say nothing of the grammatical/punctuation errors.
A: Yes, I did want to see if anyone would notice. On Friday, I read 32 resumes. The average error rate – 15 per page! .
