A resume can open doors or close them before you even get to the interview. And yet, many job seekers, especially students and early professionals, make errors that cost them real opportunities.
This guide walks you through the most frequent resume mistakes and shows you how to fix them step-by-step. Whether you're using a resume builder or starting from scratch, avoiding these errors will give you a cleaner, stronger, and more job-ready resume.
Hiring managers review dozens or even hundreds of resumes for each job. If yours has avoidable mistakes, they may move on without reading more than a few lines.
What looks like a “small error” to you can signal a lack of attention, effort, or understanding. Common resume issues include:
Sending the same resume to every company may seem efficient, but it hurts your chances. A one-size-fits-all resume fails to speak directly to what the recruiter needs.
Name_Resume_MarketingIntern.pdfSmall, specific changes make a big difference.
Motivated and hardworking individual seeking a challenging position to utilize my full potential.
This doesn’t tell the recruiter anything useful.
Your summary should answer: “What value do I bring, and what kind of role am I looking for?”
Final-year B.Com student with hands-on experience in financial analysis and Excel-based reporting. Seeking a data-focused internship in fintech.
Recent design graduate with projects in Figma and Adobe XD. Looking to join a UI/UX team where I can grow fast and contribute from day one.
Limit it to 2–3 lines. Avoid empty adjectives unless followed by proof.
Even if your content is great, bad formatting makes it hard to read, and that means fewer callbacks.
A clean layout shows professionalism before you even speak a word.
If your resume has typos, recruiters may assume you didn’t check it—or won’t check your work in the job either.
Most people just write what they were "supposed to do," not what they achieved.
Responsible for handling customer support and solving queries.
Resolved 90+ customer issues over live chat within SLA, maintaining a 95% satisfaction rate.
Use the STAR format:
Even as a fresher, quantify your work:
Many applicants list 15–20 skills, half of which they’ve never used.
Accurate skills = stronger interviews and better fit.
If you’re a student, your projects are your experience.
Leaving the “Experience” section blank.
Include:
Personal Finance Tracker – Excel Project
Built a dashboard with SUMIF and pivot tables to track spending. Shared with 25 students.
Show you’re already working on things that matter.
Soft skills often get ignored—or worse, listed without proof.
Good team player, hardworking, self-motivated.
Coordinated with 4 team members on a marketing pitch. Delivered final proposal 2 days early.
Volunteered at a campus event, managing coordination across 3 departments and 40+ attendees.
Hobbies: Sleeping, Netflix, long walks on the beach.
Photography – Won campus photo contest; maintain Instagram with 5K+ followers
Blogging – Write weekly tech explainers on Medium
Teaching – Tutor two school students in science weekly
Only list hobbies that show effort or creativity.
Courses are great, but irrelevant ones clutter your resume.
Coursera – Python for Everybody (2023)
Learned scripting and APIs. Built a Twitter bot as final project.
This small detail makes a big impression.
FirstName_LastName_Resume_JobRole.pdf
Example: Aarav_Kumar_Resume_DesignIntern.pdf
Always save as PDF.
Before you send, review this checklist:
If yes, you’re ready to apply.
Fixing your resume doesn’t mean rewriting your life story—it means telling it clearly and honestly.
By avoiding these mistakes, you’re ahead of the pack:
A great resume won’t land you every job, but it will get you noticed for the right ones.
Want to skip formatting stress? Try the JobPe Resume Builder to create a recruiter-ready resume in minutes.
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