Every company is looking to find top-notch talent to hire. Regardless of how you stumble upon potential applicants — whether it be through online job posts, referrals, job fairs, or your company web page — at some point, you will have to review their resume. Now, this may seem like a straightforward task, but there are many misconceptions and pitfalls employers can fall prey to. There is no concrete way to judge the value of what is being shown on a candidates resume. We have so many guidelines out there on how to write a resume. However, there is not much on how to interpret them. With that in mind, here are some of the top mistakes employers make when reviewing resumes.
Misinterpreting Stylistic Preferences As Mistakes
Many people believe there is a right way of doing things. But, when it comes to writing a resume, there are actually a variety of acceptable ways to showcase one’s accomplishments. In fact, many professional resume writing services agree that there is not one particular style that always works best. Some people like to use short bullet points whereas others like to condense everything into long paragraphs. So, when it comes to reviewing resumes, be aware of your preferences in resume writing and etiquette and use an unbiased approach when evaluating job candidates.
Many applicants take the risk of adding color or graphics to their resume. Professional resume writers are even specifically trained not to do that. However, even though it not the best practice for applicants, that does not mean employers should completely disregard what is possibly an otherwise perfectly written resume.. While it might not come up as particularly impressive to you, it should not be the thing that determines whether a candidate is a good hire or not. In fact, someone who utilizes this method might be a great hire, it shows that they are looking to be innovative and go above and beyond with their creativity.
Many employers tend to harp on the GPA of job applicants even though strong academic standing has never proven to be a link to success in the workplace. GPA is very important for students, but it is an unreliable source of information for employers when they are making their hiring decisions. One thing to consider is that GPAs can vary based on the school. For example, a 3.4 GPA in one school can be more difficult to get than a 3.7 GPA at another school. So, due to the unreliability of the GPA metric, employers really should interpret it with a grain of salt.