5 Reasons Why Your Resume Is Getting Ignored

So you’ve applied for tons of marketing and advertising jobs and you aren’t getting any callbacks. Instead of being discouraged, try revamping your resume by avoiding these five common mistakes.

Your resume isn’t a PDF file.

As I’m sure you already know, applying for jobs electronically is just about the only way to get your resume out there these days. One common mistake people tend to make is not sending their resumes in as a PDF file. You may be thinking ‘what’s the big deal?’ Well, for starters, saving your resume as a PDF looks more professional – it’s a first impression thing. If that isn’t reason enough, using the PDF format ensures that the employer sees your resume as you intended them to – no one can alter your document from PDF format and sometimes, different versions of word processing programs can impact the overall look of the document, so better to be safe than sorry.

You chose a creative font or colour to ‘set yourself apart’ from the others.

A resume is not the place to get creative, despite what Elle Woods taught us in Legally Blonde. Using crazy fonts and colours can make your resume look messy and unprofessional. Try and stick to standard fonts and colours and ensure that your formatting is clean and concise so your resume is easy to navigate.

Your LinkedIn profile picture is a selfie.

LinkedIn is a huge determining factor of whether or not you get hired. By definition, LinkedIn is a professional network; so make sure your profile picture is just that – professional. We’re not saying you need a full on glamour shot, but you should have a photo where you’re looking straight into the camera, showing your entire face. Also, make sure your photo is an appropriate size for LinkedIn otherwise it looks sloppy.

You use a Hotmail or AOL address.

Using a Hotmail or AOL address is pre-historic, so if you have an email under one of these addresses, you should consider changing it to something more contemporary, like Gmail. Having a more widely used email address shows that you’re in touch with the latest trends, which is important in the advertising and marketing industry.

Bad spelling or grammar.

Needless to say, your spelling and grammar should be immaculate on your resume. A spelling or grammatical error sticks out like a soar thumb and denotes carelessness, as well as lack of attention to detail. Take the extra time to proof read your resume before sending it out, or have a second pair of eyes glance over it – it could make all the difference!

5 Reasons Why Your Resume Is Getting Ignored