Career tip: Resume Mistakes To Avoid 5

The message of the final instalment of our Resume series might come as a surprise to many of you: Don’t include incorrect contact information in your application!

Consider this: You’ve taken the time and effort to review our resume and cover letter. In may ways, you should be the top contender for the job! So why haven’t you heard from the employer? You look at your emails and check the sent folder, only to discover that you’ve included an incorrect email address.

If you’re lucky and the employer is still interested to meet with you, they might decide to contact you and give you an opportunity to rectify this mistake. However, a small mistake like this can spell doom for your application, especially if the other top contenders provided correct and well-formatted information.

Another potential issue that you should consider is the name of your email address. Your email address is part of your professional identity. A suggestive, flirtatious or funny email address might be entertaining amongst friends, but it could cause potential employers to dismiss your application out of principle. Consider creating a separate email account for job applications. Try following these guidelines when making a professional email account:

  • Make it easy to remember.
  • Have the address include your first and last names.
  • Do not share the account with friends or family.
  • Avoid using numbers or other symbols.
  • Register it on your LinkedIn profile, which should be treated differently to your other social media accounts.
  • Ensure that you include the correct spelling of your email address on both your resume and cover letter.

This article was written and edited by Arthur Chan and Matthew Leach. 
中文版,由Arthur,Cissy和Nebula编写和编辑 (WeChat or browser compatible, coming soon)

The GBCA team would like to wish all current students and alumni best of luck when seeking employment. It is not easy and sometimes, with the best efforts one may still not be selected for an interview – don’t give up or overthink, we are living in an era where there are just too many options available, if you had tried your best, you should not have any regrets and keep on trying.

Best wishes

GBCA

Career tip: Resume Mistakes To Avoid 4

It’s common to apply for a number of different positions at the same time. Many people doing so will likely resolve to make a one-size-fits-all resume. While a generalised resume isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can often be quite useful, it might not be as highly regarded as applications that are customised specifically for the advertised position.

If you’ve already made a general resume, try comparing it with the selection criteria listed on a job advertisement. Remove any points that may be irrelevant and try rephrasing existing points that best demonstrate your skills that are relevant to the criteria listed. It may take an additional thirty minutes, but it’ll help you stand out amongst the crowd of applicants.

Remember, even if the position titles of two job vacancies are the same, the relevant selection criteria on each advertisement could be completely different, so your applications should not be identical if you intend to apply for both positions.

This article was written and edited by Arthur Chan and Matthew Leach
中文版,由Arthur,Cissy和Nebula编写和编辑 (WeChat or browser compatible, coming soon)

 

Career tip: Resume Mistakes To Avoid 3

Do you have strong graphic design skills? People entering the work force might feel the need to polish their resume up with some impressive visuals in order to balance out a short resume. Unfortunately, this will only make potential employers more likely to dismiss these applications.

We discussed this matter with some of our community collaborators and found that many of them prefer a clean, clearly formatted document with font no larger than size 14 with a maximum of four pages. An elaborate visual design, while potentially enjoyable to look at, can come across as unprofessional.

While professions that relate to graphic design might benefit from a resume with wonderful visuals, recruiters would still be expected to want to see the history of an applicant’s career before moving on to examining their visual portfolio.

If you’re struggling to include information in your resume, why not try including a short paragraph that outlines your skills? Try including information about the places that you’ve volunteered; if there’s any point of relevancy to the job that you’re offering, write a short paragraph and describe how the volunteering experience may be beneficial to the job that you’re applying for. If you covered your experience, skills and education in a one-page resume, use your cover letter to explain how they might be compatible with the job that you’re applying for.

Good luck!

This article was written and edited by Arthur Chan and Matthew Leach.
中文版,由Arthur,Cissy和Nebula编写和编辑 (WeChat or browser compatible, coming soon)