The resume critique & resume samples booth operated by Sandbox Advisors during the recent JobsDB Career Fair, was a huge success. Over the three days we reviewed more than 300 resumes and helped job seekers improve the quality of their resumes and cover letters.
Participants were given a detailed critique of their existing resumes and were also given resume samples, to help get them started with the resume writing process.
As is often the case, most of the resumes we came across had similar and very basic mistakes. For the benefit of those who were not able to attend the career fair, below is a summary of the most common mistakes we observed and some quick tips on how to overcome them. You can also download some of the resume samples we provided at the event.
- Poor design and layout: Having a resume which looks good at first glance and is well structured/formatted can make a big difference. We shared a few examples of well designed resume samples during the event, which can be downloaded here [resume sample, resume format]
- Too much content: Many resumes we reviewed were extremely long, sometimes over 15 pages! While there is no hard and fast rule, for majority of people I would suggest a 2-3 page resume. This keeps things brief, while allowing for enough room to communicate sufficient details about your background. Remember that this is just a guideline and your case might warrant some deviation. For example, as a fresh graduate you might have enough material for only 1 page and if you are a senior executive then you might need 4-5 pages.
- Wasting ‘prime resume real-estate’: The initial portion of your resume is very important, since that is what the recruiter sees first. Therefore you need to make quick impact in that section. Some ways to do this are by using sections such as a headline, career summary, key skills, achievements. Do not waste this space by letting your personal particulars (name, address, date of birth, contact information, etc.) cover majority of the first page of your resume
- Too much focus on job responsibilities: When describing past work experience, there is a tendency to give details only for job duties/responsibilities. This is not the right approach, since many people would have similar jobs/responsibilities and that makes it hard for a recruiter to decide who to pick for the interview. You need to write a lot more about your achievements i.e. how well you performed your responsibilities. Tell recruiters about the great things you did at work and how significant they were
- Use of generic resumes: Different jobs require different knowledge, skills and abilities to perform well. Therefore when applying to jobs which are very different in nature, you need to use different resumes as well. The respective resume must showcase only those skills, etc. which are needed for the job you are applying to. You don’t need a different resume for every job you apply to but can use 2-3 resumes for groups of jobs which are similar in nature
If you are serious about getting a job in Singapore, then you should download our job search books [click here]. They have everything you need to find jobs in Singapore quickly.
