In the 2010 Orange County Resume Survey*, 42 percent of respondents asked for the No. 1 mistake job-seekers make on their resumes said spelling and grammar errors. For 15 percent of respondents, the biggest mistake was that the resume was not tailored to the targeted position. The length of the resume and issues with work history was the No. 1 peeve for 12 percent, while 8 percent listed formatting problems, 6 percent cited a failure to list accomplishments, and another 6 percent mentioned problems with e-mail addresses and contact information.
Surprisingly, only 1 percent of respondents listed lying as the No. 1 mistake. Also surprising was the fact that no respondents chose listing all memberships, listing hobbies, adding a photo, or using abbreviations as the No. 1 mistake.
Many of the mistakes listed overlap with our article, Avoid These 10 Resume Mistakes.
*The 2010 Orange County Resume Survey by The Center for Career and Life Development, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, Eric Hilden, Career Placement Officer, was distributed by email to 2,000+ employer contacts in Orange County and shared online employer contacts in Orange County and shared online via social-networking sites including Linkedin.com and Twitter.
