Are You Making These Common IT Resume Mistakes?

Your resume is a hiring manager’s introduction to who you are as an IT professional. If you have been applying to jobs every week and you are not landing interviews, the problem could lie with your resume.

There are several common IT resume mistakes that many job seekers make, but those mistakes are usually simple to correct. If your job search isn’t yielding results, follow these tips to improve your resume.

Your Resume is Too Complex

Hiring managers don’t have the time to decipher overly designed or complex resumes. Do those people – and yourself – a favor by keeping the format as simple as possible. Forego clipart, crazy fonts and color changes in favor of neat sections, clear fonts and bullet points.

It is also important to keep your resume as concise as possible. This can be difficult, but focus on getting your most relevant experience on page one and keeping important but less-critical information on page two. Eliminate skills and experience that are outdated, as they just take up critical space.

You Aren’t Including Relevant Information

Your resume should be tailored to the job for which you are applying. It is important to stress the skills and experience the company lists (as long as you have them). It is acceptable to omit skills, projects and other information that are not aligned with the role.

You List Responsibilities Rather Than Contributions

This is a common mistake that most IT job seekers make today. Hiring managers don’t care about your job description – they want to know how you brought value to that job. Don’t just list your daily duties. Instead, paint a picture of how your technical skills help the company achieve its goals.

You Included Information That Should Be Confidential

Never include information that could lead to unintentional bias. Employers cannot ask you about deeply personal information, so don’t open the door to their unconscious biases by listing information that should be kept confidential. Remove any references to your age, religious affiliation, marital status, parental status or political affiliation.

You Didn’t Proofread

Hiring managers don’t expect tech pros to be wordsmiths, but they do want to see attention to detail. Simple grammatical errors and spelling mistakes can instantly disqualify you. Run spelling and grammar checks but also have at least two other people you trust review your resume before sending it out.

Are You Looking for a New IT Job?

If you are a tech pro looking for new IT career opportunities, we invite you to contact PEAK Technical Consulting today. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals.