5 big mistakes Googles head of HR sees on resumes

5 big mistakes Googles head of HR sees on resumesIts a real truism in life We often learn best from mistakesboth our mistakes and those that others have made. Humans are creatures of trial and errorwe bravely take risks and try out new things. Sometimes we meet success other times we hit unexpected obstacles and find failure. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) This tendency to make mistakes impacts all facets of lifeincluding our search for a new job. Talk with any HR professional or hiring manager and ask them if they have any stories of folks who have absolutely fumbled the opportunity to get a new job, and chances are youll hear a bunch of them. Some are funny, others odd, and some will be downright sad but theyll all have something in commonthe person likely made a bad choice or neglected to do something they should have, and it wound up wrecking their chances for success.The unfortunate truth is that some people make mistakes at the ve ry beginning of the job hunton their resumesand take themselves out of contention before even getting started. It happens more than you realize, and in countless waysIn fact, resume gaffes are such a pervasive herausforderung that Laszlo motorrad, former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, wrote a LinkedIn article about it, entitled The Biggest Mistakes I see on Resumes and How to Correct Them. Bock estimates that hes personally reviewed over 20,000 resumes, so he certainly knows what hes talking about.Lets take a look at what he says are five of the biggest mistakes that hes seen on resumes so you can avoid them on your job hunt.1. Bad formattingWhen it comes to foolish resume formatting Bock has seen it all, from wildly creative designs and outlandish fonts to splashes of color and crazy margins, all done in an effort to try and stand out from other resumes and grab the readers attention. Unfortunatelywhat you may earn in attention grabbing could cost you in anot her key areaeffectively, clearly, and professionally conveying your background, experience, and skill set.Artistic bells and whistles simply dont work on resumes. A clean, legible, and professional looking document is what works best. If you want to be taken seriously in the job market, save the creativity for your next arts and crafts project.2. Careless typosIts a real shame that such an avoidable problem like resume typos is such a pervasive issue, but Bock reports that a surprisingly high percentage of the resumes hes reviewed, for positions at all levels, contain pesky typos. And good luck being taken seriously during the job hiring process if the first impression you make is someone who cant be bothered to put in the extra effort to get such an important document correct. Typos are absolute resume killers, so be completely sure that yours is error free and in perfect shape before sending it out.3. Excessive lengthThis is a trickier problem, because the longer youre in the job market the more things youll have to say about yourself. However if your document reads more like a novel then a resume, chances are itll either get ignored or glossed over and key parts will get overlooked. Bock has a great rule of thumb for resume length1 page for every 10 years of experience. Do your best to stick to this guideline, and remember that youll have an opportunity to say more about yourself on interviewsif you make it that far.4. Leaking confidential informationThis doesnt happen very often, but when it does it raises big red flags. If youve worked with a company that handles sensitive information or have had jobs with which youve had confidentiality agreements, be very careful about what you put on your resume. If you cross the line and the hiring manager figures it out, your chances of moving to the next stage of the hiring process are slim to none.5. LiesHopefully this ones obvious Despite what you may have heard, there are no such things as good lies when it comes to your resume. If you get caught making something up on your resume, theres just no way to explain it away or cover up for it. Your chances of getting a job with a resume built on liesno matter how small or insignificantare effectively obliterated. Even if you wind up getting the job, if your lie is figured out sometime later you could even lose your job. Bottom linelying is just not a good way to search for your next job.There you have it Five of the biggest resume mistakes according to a real industry veteran and insider. Make sure youre not committing any of these gaffes before you send out your next resume, and youll be one step ahead of the job-hunting crowd.