Maybe grammar and writing were not your best subjects in  school, but resume writing means that you must have or appear like you have a  mastery of the English language. While your goal should be a perfect resume with  no mistakes, there are some common mistakes that appear more often than others  that once you know to watch for are easy to avoid.

The number one mistake is typos. I have received numerous  resumes with missing punctuation or missing a letter in a word. When the rest of  the document has correct spelling seeing one word with a missing letter tells me  that is no doubt a typo. Nonetheless, that can have bad results for you  depending on the employer screening your resume. I have seen cover letters begin  with HELL instead of HELLO, resumes with HI instead of HIM, and AX instead of  TAX. You get the idea.

The number two mistake is misspelled words. While texting,  email, and chatting have all led to an acceptance of misspelled words, most  employers will not tolerate many misspellings in your resume and many will  reject you for even one. With all the language resources available there is no  excuse for having misspelled words in your resume.

The number three mistake is misuse of words. While typos and  misspellings can look like mistakes, using the wrong word can make you appear  unintelligent fast. Sentences such as: Managed large PUDDLE of office employees,  or CONSTRUCTED staff in daily duties. There is a ton of poor content on the  Internet that has been produced for the SEO race through article spinning. DO  NOT attempt resume spinning! Your resume must use words correctly.

Luckily, resume writing isn’t a closed book exam. You can  use tips, grammar books, and the Internet to help you appear grammar savvy. If  you follow these tips, you’ll have a grammatically correct resume that will  impress bosses and have you on your way to hired.

First, proofread. This might seem like obvious advice, but  there are many reasons why people do not proofread their resumes. First, there  is not enough time. You locate a job posting at the last minute and want to send  in a resume before the deadline. Second, you’re tired. The resume has been  taking a good chunk of your time and you don’t want to deal with it any more.  Third, you do not know how, or you always seem to miss your own errors. Spell  checking does not always pick up typos and often neither does proofreading. Our  eyes have a tendency to auto correct as the words are fed into the brain. Having  several people proofread your resume is advisable.

You can easily get past these excuses if you proofread a  general resume that you use to create all custom versions. Even if you’re  running low on time, you can pull info that you already know is grammatically  correct into a shorter, more job specific resume. If you have others help you  with proofreading or make yourself a proofreading chart you can also avoid the  problems that come with fatigue or having a hard time locating your own  errors.

Second, check for awkwardness. Even if it is grammatically  correct, an awkward sentence or phrase is not going to get you the job. Usually  awkward sentences arise from misuse of words or wordiness. There is no word  count on a resume. Simple and clear is best. To check for awkward phrases, read  out loud; and then underline anything that you think might be unclear or hard to  understand. Next, go back and see if there is a way that you can make it simpler  using fewer words.

Third, understand punctuation and how you should use it in a  professional setting. No matter how excited you are, avoid the exclamation  point. Know when you need a semi-colon instead of a comma, and check for  consistency. For instance, are you using or avoiding punctuation in bulleted  lists? Whatever your choice, make sure it’s consistent throughout the  resume.

Resume writing is an art that requires technical knowledge like the knowledge of grammar. If  you do not understand English grammar, you need to learn before you head out  into the world of finding a job. Using web sites, books, etc, you can learn to  make the grammar on your resume impeccable.

Copyright 2010 by Phil Baker – OneClick Cover Letter Creator