If you’re sending applications and not hearing back, your resume is the most likely culprit. Recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds on initial resume screening. Here are the seven most common mistakes we see — and how to fix each one.
The ATS Problem
Before a human sees your resume, it often passes through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that scans for keywords and filters out candidates who don’t match. Many excellent candidates are eliminated at this stage because of fixable formatting and keyword issues — not because they’re underqualified.
Mistake 1: A Generic Objective Statement
“Seeking a challenging position where I can contribute to a dynamic organisation” tells a recruiter nothing. Replace it with a Professional Summary — 3-4 sentences that immediately communicate your role, years of experience, key specialisation, and one standout achievement. Tailor this for every application.
Mistakes 2-4: Content Issues
Mistake 2: Responsibilities instead of achievements. “Responsible for sales” is a job description. “Grew territory revenue from ₹80L to ₹1.4Cr in 18 months” is an achievement. Recruiters want to know what you accomplished, not just what your job was.
Mistake 3: Missing keywords from the job description. Read the job description carefully and mirror its language in your resume. If they say “stakeholder management,” use that phrase — not “working with executives.”
Mistake 4: Including irrelevant experience. After 5+ years of experience, your part-time jobs from college and generic “hobbies” section are taking up valuable space. Every line should earn its place by reinforcing your candidacy for this specific role.
Mistakes 5-7: Format & Polish
Mistake 5: Complex formatting that breaks ATS. Tables, columns, graphics, and headers with unusual fonts look impressive but often confuse ATS systems. Use a clean, single-column format with standard section headings.
Mistake 6: Inconsistent or wrong contact details. Ensure your phone number is active and has a professional voicemail. Your email should be professional (firstname.lastname@gmail.com) — not the gaming handle you’ve had since college.
Mistake 7: Typos and grammatical errors. A single typo in a resume signals a lack of attention to detail. Run Grammarly, read your resume out loud, and ask someone else to proofread it. This is a preventable disqualifier.
How to Fix Your Resume Today
- Replace your objective with a targeted professional summary
- Rewrite each bullet point to lead with an action verb and include a quantified outcome
- Cross-reference your resume against the job description and add missing keywords naturally
- Switch to a clean, ATS-friendly template (many are free on Canva or Microsoft Office)
- Triple-check contact details and run a full grammar check
Your resume is a marketing document, not a record of your life. Its only job is to get you an interview. Apply these seven fixes and you’ll find significantly more callbacks from your applications.