It’s common knowledge that spelling and grammar mistakes can be extremely damaging to your resume’s chances of landing you a job interview. Everyone seems to be aware of this fact, and this is why they are constantly reminded to check and then recheck their resumes.
So then why are these mistakes found all the time on resumes? A lot of times, people are reluctant to share and have their resumes edited by others, and failing to do so can result in small errors going undetected.
Showing your resume to someone else benefits you in more ways than one. For one, it provides an extra pair of eyes to look for any spelling of grammar mistakes. While you may be absolutely positive that there are none, especially since you’ve edited it numerous times, it can’t hurt! I can tell you from experience that 7 out of the 10 resumes I read contain some sort of spelling error, and I’m willing to bet that most of these people did several edits on their resumes.
Have you ever read something so many times that you started memorizing and reciting it more than actually reading it? This happens a lot with resumes. We get so caught up in what we think it says that we sometimes forget how this translates onto paper. I notice a lot of times that people write things like “… responsible updating data…” or “…selected represent the company at various trade shows.” If you just read that for the first time, you probably noticed that a few words are missing there. Obvious, right? Read it a few more times and you might find yourself automatically inserting the missing words. This is what happens quite often with people who write and then edit and re-edit their resumes.
Showing your resume to someone else eliminates the chances of this happening as they will be more likely to catch small mistakes like these. They can also provide an objective critique on your resume.
While you clearly know more about your past experience than anyone, translating this onto paper for a stranger to understand is sometimes very difficult, and the person critiquing it can point out any job descriptions that don’t make sense or aren’t very clear.
Overall, having another person or two look at your resume before you send it off can do nothing but help you. The job market out there is tough at the moment and you want to give yourself the best chance possible – don’t let small errors that you looked over damage your chances of landing an interview.
