What Resume Inconsistences Tell A Potential Employer

I have been reviewing a lot of resumes lately. It's that time of year where new graduates are launching their job searches and older job seekers are returning to the hunt after the holiday break. In the last week or so I have reviewed perhaps 150 resumes. The owners of the resumes appear to be intelligent and educated. But the one thing that all the resumes have in common is some kind of formatting inconsistency such as:

• Multiple font types and sizes
• Different bullet sizes and indent widths
• Varying number of spaces between resume sections
• Non-parallel structure of job duty statements
• Irregular order of employment information (job title, employer, location and dates)
• Missing information such as dates of graduation or employment

Granted, I was sent the resume because the owner felt it needed an objective eye. But, some of these inconsistencies and flaws are so basic that a sophomore in high school could catch them. This experience has made me pause and reflect: What do these inconsistencies tell a potential employer about the resume owner?

As the owner of a flawed resume, are you sending the message that you are not proficient in the use of a word processor or basic proofreading? When a college graduate uses bullets of different sizes and indent widths, I don't buy s/he can't use a word processor. After all, in four years of college, they probably wrote many term papers that contained bullets and surely their professor(s) would have pointed out such a basic error!

I think the problem goes much deeper and is at the heart of their employment value. Inconsistencies in formatting don't suggest a lack of proficiency to me. Rather, the inconsistencies I've cited above paint a picture of a person who does not check his work, who doesn't seem bothered by submitting flawed work, who can't tell if his work is flawed, and who may want someone else to do the 'heavy lifting.' This is not an attractive portrait, for sure.

You may feel I am being much too tough. After all, they contacted me for help, so aren't they doing the things that I imply they should being doing? That's a fair argument. But, let me broaden the example. The people who sent me their resume to review are asking for help. But, are there others who do not and think what they send out is just fine? Well, I have the perspective of being 56 years old -- a life time of work experiences behind me -- and 11 years in the job search assistance business. My perspective has told me that most people are not asking for help. Many people send out sloppy resumes and they don't understand why they are not being called for job interviews.

Today's job market can be unforgiving. For many jobs, employers can source 100 resumes or more. And, only a handful of those candidates will be called in for an interview. The rest of the group may get a rejection letter, but many will get nothing at all. How does one correct this problem? It comes back to my lead question in this blog article: What do resume inconsistencies tell a potential employer about you?

A resume is much more than a record of your employment and an inventory of your skills. Resumes tell a story about your career. How you succeeded (and failed). How you "built" the house of your career. But, on a deeper level, a resume tells a potential employer about you as a person and human being. You may be a crackerjack computer whiz but if you don't check your work, do I really want to hire you? You may have rare skills that I need but if you do not go the extra mile, so to speak, and do not do the best  job possible, will hiring you be more trouble than it is worth? If you are the most talented person I have interviewed in years, yet you do not have that "sixth sense" that tells you something isn't right and you need to find some help to correct the problem, aren't you wasting your talent because you don't know how to follow up?

You may say that I am being too picky. After all, resumes are uploaded into databases so formatting doesn't matter. You may even add that many employers want un-formatted resumes. If this is your defense for a error-ridden resume, you are missing my greater point as well as the purpose of a resume: to persuade. I am not persuaded by a resume owner who uses 3 different fonts on his resume and has a mish-mash of irregularities within it. The only thing I am persuaded of is the owner of the resume is disorganized.