Resume Checking Guide
A comprehensive checklist to ensure your resume is professional, ATS-friendly, and ready to impress recruiters.
Table of Contents
Common Mistakes and Fixes
Dos
- Tailor your CV for each specific job application.
- Write a career objective that highlights your skills, achievements, and path.
- Only list work experiences relevant to the applied position.
- Describe your work experience with specific metrics and numbers.
- List skills that match the job description.
- Provide full information about your educational background.
- Use a professional email address and a formal portrait photo (if applicable).
- Order your timelines in reverse chronological order.
- Keep your CV concise, fitting within 1 to 2 pages.
- Carefully check spelling, grammar, and ensure consistent formatting.
Don'ts
- Use the exact same CV for many different job positions.
- Use an unclear or cliché career objective.
- List work experiences that are completely irrelevant to the job.
- Describe your work experience superficially or vaguely.
- List generic skills without context.
- Miss important information like education, certificates, or awards.
- Use an unprofessional email address or inappropriate photo.
- Order your timelines messily without logical sequence.
- Make your CV excessively long or too short.
- Leave spelling or grammar errors and inconsistent formatting.
1. Personal Information
- Include your full name as the largest text on the page.
- Use a professional email address (e.g., firstname.lastname@email.com).
- Ensure your phone number is correct and includes a country code if applying internationally.
- Provide a clean URL to your LinkedIn profile or portfolio.
2. Professional Summary
- Keep it concise: 3-4 sentences max.
- Highlight your most relevant skills and career goals.
- Avoid generic statements like 'seeking a dynamic environment'.
3. Work Experience
- List experiences in reverse-chronological order (newest first).
- Focus on achievements, not just responsibilities.
- Use action verbs (e.g., 'Spearheaded', 'Optimized', 'Developed').
- Quantify results whenever possible (e.g., 'Increased sales by 20%').
- Tailor the bullet points to the job you are applying for.
4. Education
- Include the institution name, degree, and graduation date.
- Only include your GPA if it is exceptionally high and relevant.
5. Skills
- List hard skills and technical proficiencies relevant to the job.
- Avoid listing basic skills like 'Microsoft Word' unless specified in the job description.
- Incorporate relevant keywords from the job posting to pass ATS filters.
6. Formatting & Final Checks
- Ensure consistent font types, sizes, and spacing throughout.
- Proofread multiple times to eliminate all spelling and grammatical errors.
- Always export and submit your resume as a PDF to preserve formatting.
- Keep the length to 1 page if you have less than 10 years of experience, or 2 pages maximum.