Top 10 Mistakes You Are Doing That Can Cost You a Job Offer
Tags: watercooler, career, webdev
Published: 2020-08-12 20:14:00

Often, I have seen resumes that include some of the mistakes that they may not realize they are doing and I have even made these mistakes as well. Unfortunately, it could result in losing the opportunity or being looked at less than what you're worth. Here are some techniques to avoid before submitting your application to your next opportunity.

|Shortcuts  |
|-|
| [:boy: Picture of yourself](#ch1) |
| [:star: Rating your skills](#ch2) |
| [:baby: Including your age](#ch3) |
| [:round_pushpin: Including your address](#ch4) |
| [:watch: Too much in the job description](#ch5) |
| [:sparkler: Trying to stand out by design](#ch6) |
| [:book: Adding more than one page](#ch7) |
| [:older_woman: Adding experience from 10+ years](#ch8) |
| [:mag: Not checking your grammar](#ch9) |
| [:triangular_flag_on_post: Adding skills you just recently learned](#ch10) |
| [:heart: Thank you!](#thanks) |


## :boy: Picture of yourself <a name="ch1"></a>

As much as we may want to show off our best features(our smile:smile:), unfortunately, it might harm you on your resume to include a picture of yourself. Most employers I have met are very kind and very professional. Sadly, there might be a small percentage of recruiters who will judge you based upon your picture. Although this could be a small percentage, there is no way of knowing why they rejected you, unless they were a little more transparent than "we found a candidate that matched our criteria".

## :star: Rating your skills <a name="ch2"></a>

I have seen resumes from juniors to seniors that make this mistake. This is a BIG problem on your resume. Who determines the rating/grade? You may put that you know 60% of JavaScript and see it as "there is plenty to learn in JavaScript and I can always learn more!". However, someone may read that like "Only 60%?! They must not know much! We only hire top-level developers!". You could also either put too low of a rating and sell yourself short or you could even rate your skills to high and set up false expectations before the technical interview. 

## :baby: Including your age <a name="ch3"></a>

Please refer to the first problem as it relates to why this is not something you should include in your resume. Without knowing the company culture, you could be conceived under "too old" or "too young". Although I have met amazing developers from teenagers to senior citizens, the company you are applying to could potentially paint an image of you even before getting to know you. 

## :round_pushpin: Including your address <a name="ch4"></a>

This is not the biggest issue(especially if you plan on only applying to local companies), but you could hurt some chances including your address. Although remote jobs have become a new norm for most companies, there might be some companies that are not willing to speak to developers that they may have to relocate if the position is in-house. You may also don't want risk any recruiters judging you based upon area that you live in.

## :watch: Too much in the job description <a name="ch5"></a>

Recruiters have to go through thousands of resumes and the last thing any of them would like to do is read 2-3 paragraphs about your duties in your previous employment. What I have been taught by several experienced developers is **only include measurable bullet-point results on your job description.** One example is "Organically attracted 5,500+ viewers with 400+ reactions to my articles as an author". If your previous employment was non-technical, stick to including 1-2 bullet points about your position. For example, if your previous position was a pizza delivery driver, most people know what a delivery driver does, but what they want to know is how good of a delivery driver was you. 

## :sparkler: Trying to stand out by design <a name="ch6"></a>

Some design formats are very unique while also professional, but for the most part, how pretty your resume is doesn't matter to recruiters. The best resumes that recruiters like are easy-to-read and straight to the point.

## :book: Adding more than one page <a name="ch7"></a>

If recruiters are going through hundreds or thousands of resumes, the last thing any recruiter wants is a whole book about your experiences. **Rule of Thumb: keep your resume to one or two pages.** It is better to keep it to one page, but it wouldn't hurt to have two pages if you have tons of experience and achievements and highly-rated projects.

## :older_woman: Adding experience from 10+ years <a name="ch8"></a>

Unless your most recent experience was with a company that you worked for 10+ years, most employers don't consider experience beyond that. It is great that you worked at a factory for 20 years and then change into tech, but if your 3 most recent experience was after you left the factory job, they want to know more about the recent experiences. If you still want to talk about it, mention it in interviews and talk about your experience then.

## :mag: Not checking your grammar <a name="ch9"></a>

Yes, periods, typos, and commas matter! Recruiters will check for grammatical issues and can often be a big turn-off if you don't check your grammar. I recommended [:bookmark: Grammarly](https://app.grammarly.com/) for this as it is free to use and can make the process quick and easy!

## :triangular_flag_on_post: Adding skills you just recently learned <a name="ch10"></a>

Although it is good to show employers how flexible you are as a programmer and that you are eager to learn, you don't add skills that you have just recently used or have not mastered. The most embarrassing interview you can have is when an employer sees that you learned Python even though you have only done one project with Python and only know the basics, then the recruiter asks technical questions about Python that you don't know the answer to. You should only include skills that you can confidently talk about and address technical interviews. If you would still like to add the skill you have just recently learned, put down that you know "Python foundational" or "SEO principles". 

## :heart: Thank you! <a name="thanks"></a>

If you think I might have missed something or want to express your opinion on this, comment below! If you enjoyed the article, go ahead and smash the :heart: for this article! Check out some more of my articles below!:point_down:

{% user mrshawnhum %}