Career Advice
10 Resume Mistakes That Get You Rejected
The most common resume-killers are: vague bullet points, no measurable results, a generic objective statement, typos, inconsistent formatting, an unprofessional email address, missing keywords from the job posting, an unclear job title, an outdated or overly long format, and a resume that isn't tailored to the specific role.
Recruiters see the same mistakes over and over, and most of them are easy to fix once you know what they're looking for. Here are the ten that come up most often.
1. Vague, duty-based bullet points
"Managed a team" says nothing about how well. "Led a team of 6 to hit 112% of quarterly targets" says everything. Specificity is what separates a forgettable resume from a memorable one.
2. No numbers anywhere
Even roles without obvious metrics usually have something quantifiable — number of accounts, size of budget, volume processed, percentage improved. Numbers give a recruiter something concrete to anchor on.
3. A generic objective statement
"Seeking a challenging position where I can grow" tells the reader nothing about you and wastes prime real estate at the top of the page. Replace it with a short summary that states your specialty and biggest strength.
4. Typos and inconsistent formatting
Mismatched date formats, inconsistent bullet punctuation, or a single typo in the first paragraph reads as carelessness — even if the rest of the resume is strong.
Tip: Read your resume out loud, or have someone else read it. Silent proofreading misses more errors than either of those methods.
5. An unprofessional email address
An old handle from high school undercuts an otherwise polished resume. A simple firstname.lastname@ email takes two minutes to set up and removes an unnecessary distraction.
6. Missing keywords from the job posting
Both ATS software and human recruiters scan for language that matches the posting. If the listing says "stakeholder management" and your resume says "worked with clients," you're losing a match you should have won.
7. An unclear or inflated job title
If your internal title doesn't reflect the actual scope of the role, clarify it — for example, "Marketing Coordinator (Content Lead)." Don't invent a title that isn't accurate, but do make the real scope legible.
8. A cluttered, hard-to-scan layout
Multiple columns, small margins, and dense paragraphs make a recruiter work harder than they're willing to during a first pass. White space is doing you a favor.
Avoid: Cramming everything onto one page by shrinking the font below 10pt. It's better to cut a bullet point than to make the whole page harder to read.
9. Sending the same resume to every job
A resume that's clearly generic — no alignment with the specific posting's language or priorities — signals low effort, and recruiters notice.
10. Burying your most relevant experience
If your strongest, most relevant experience isn't in the top third of the page, most readers won't get to it. Lead with what matters most for this specific role.