3 Resume Don'ts

1. Personal Pronouns- You should never add first-person, personal pronouns to your resume… Personal pronouns are words like, “me”, “my”, or “I” …

Your resume should reflect a professional “business tone” that gives a brief snapshot of your  professional experience.

​For this reason, it’s best not to use pronouns, as it is viewed as a common resume error that may result in ATS systems rejecting your resume.

So, to play it safe, save the pronouns for your Cover Letter or the job interview, but never include them in your resume. 

2.  Abbreviations- Its never a good idea to add abbreviations on your resume… Never assume that your potential employer knows exactly what your abbreviations mean… When writing your resume, you want to be sure that it’s as clear and concise as possible. So, it’s better to spell out your abbreviations versus adding unnecessary, excessive letters that they may not understand. 

The only exceptions for adding abbreviations are when you’re applying for an internal position for a current employer, who’s already familiar with your daily “office jargon”, or “industry lingo.” You may also use abbreviations if they are universal titles or phrases that most employers will understand such as: “CPR- (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) Qualified”, SR. (senior) Supervision. Or MS (Masters of Science) and abbreviations for months such as APR (April) and so on and so forth…
 
3. Redundant, Excessive use of Words- It’s never a good idea to use the same word twice on your resume… Doing so would show a lack of motivation, creativity, and effort on your part. Even if they’re impressive adjectives and “action words”, all they see is the same, big fluffy words being repeated countless times all throughout your resume. And that’s never a good look, by any hiring managers standards.

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