Top 5 resume red flags
February 19, 2009 by Shane BorerPosted in: "Would you want this person in Finance?", Bad investments, Special report
With the sheer number of applicants sending out their info, it’s never been harder to get noticed. Here are the five worst ways potential hires fail to separate themselves from the crowd.
Every Finance applicant coming through your door might stretch their experience or beef up their former job responsibilities, but with the number of people in the unemployment line, even those embellishments aren’t enough.
Because a flood of applicants is sure to greet any open positions, Finance pros have less time than ever to size up candidates when looking at resumes. According to job search and career advice site JobBound, there are five common mistakes that are sure to land an applicant’s info in the “do not hire” pile:
- College accomplishments are front and center — Young job seekers might not have much knowledge of the working world, but that doesn’t mean GPA and positions as sports team captains are the last resource. Professional experience — internships, summer jobs, etc. — should be highlighted above all else.
- Full sentences — Even if a hiring manager has more than a few seconds to scan a resume, it still needs to spell out the info as quickly as possible. Effective resumes explain candidates’ info quickly and clearly.
- Sounds like a parroted version of the position opening — Finance and HR pros might be good at writing concise job descriptions, but echoing that back isn’t what they’re looking for. Applicants should avoid “broad strokes,” and write about what they did in previous positions, not what any person in the same position did.
- There’s an objective statement — Targeted statements like these are usually only needed if an applicant is sending a resume in cold, not when an open position has been posted.
- No numbers — Especially when applying for financial positions, accomplishments should be measurable. Resumes that focus on scope (how many reports handled, how often) and results (how much time/money saved) are sure to garner a closer look.
What does your department look for in new hires? Are there any resume red flags that automatically take applicants out of the hiring process? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Tags: Objective statements, Potential hires, Resume mistakes, Stand out from the crowd
February 20th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Some good points, thanks.
February 20th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Don’t forget about previous employment start & end dates not matching up, or leaving big gaps unaccounted for.
February 20th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Poor grammar and misspellings sends resumes to the “no” pile. In addition, application letters with grand statements like “I am an expert in all areas of accounting” will immediately end up in the “no” pile.
February 20th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I find that odd inconsistencies in the work history send them to the “no thanks” pile. Someone with a CPA and MBA who never makes it past Staff Accountant starts my alarm bells ringing.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Seriously? You don’t think complete sentences are necessary? I’m in IT, not Finance, but one thing I look for is good written communications skills, and that includes complete sentences, subject-verb agreement, and excellent word choice. I don’t know about anyone else, but a bullet list says to me that the applicant can’t be bothered to take the time to really tell me what he has done.
February 24th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
As a rule of thumb, I deter candidates from using too many “full sentences” on their resumes. Most professional resume-writers advocate using action verbs to start off a bullet point in which you describe a contribution you made, qualified by results (preferably with supporting statistics). For example: Initiated a new account tracking system that reduced the DSO from X to Z. When I have a pile of 100 resumes on my desk, it’s much easier to see the accomplishments when listed as bullet points, than it is to see the accomplishments written out in full sentence/paragraph form.