How Not To Write a Resume: Top Five of the Worst Resumes

When writing a resume, keep in mind that you are trying to make a good first impression.

The last thing you want to be doing, is changing the color of the paper or changing the font to something that is hard to read. Print your resume on white or ivory paper of good stock. You can find resume paper at the office supply store.

You don't want to appear childish, which is what happens if you send in a colored resume with different colored inks or font styles, and the last thing you want to be doing, is handwriting in the margins of your resume.

Don't laugh!.. as a small family business we receive many resumes that are almost tossed away the minute we get them. Here are a few tips of what NOT to do when writing your resume. These are actual resumes we have received:

1. Folded 3 or 4 times into a little square, to fit in your back pocket and then throw it across the desk, or mail it that way!

2. Printed on tracing paper, or scrap paper, or graph paper, or whatever paper happened to be around at the time, complete with coffee cup stain!

3. Handwritten notes in between lines or crossed out words, instead of updating the entire resume.

4. Spelling. This is a big one. Nothing leaves a lasting impression, than you spelling the company's name wrong! Do your research before you submit your resume, and make sure you know how to spell the company name, and/or the person you are sending it to.

5. Not letting the people you are using for references know that you have included their name on your resume. There is nothing more embarrassing than phoning a reference you have supplied, to find out this person has not seen or heard from you in 20 years!

You may be a great candidate for the job we wish to fill, but how are we going to know that if you give a sloppy first impression when writing your resume. Have someone else proof read your resume, and don’t totally depend on spell check, this does not help with grammar. Send us one sheet of right to the point facts about your job history, education, and references. If you must go to two pages, use the second page for the references. We want to see your job experience on ONE page. Keep all these points in mind when writing your resume!

Just an opinion from a small family business point of view!