We’ve all heard the how-a-great-candidate’s-résumé-went-wrong stories, but like most other cautionary tales, we tend to think it won’t happen to us.

 

Until one day, it does.

 

To help you avoid being the subject of someone’s next résumé-disaster parable, here are eight résumé blunders to steer clear from. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll give your résumé a fighting chance at staying out of the trash basket.

 

 

Blunder #1: Not using spell check or trusting spell check too much

 

If you’re thinking a couple misspelled words couldn’t really hurt an otherwise stellar résumé, think again. A 2006 survey of executives at some of the nation’s top companies showed that 84% would eliminate a job candidate from consideration after spotting just one or two typographical errors. Nearly half—47%—of the executives would disqualify a candidate on the basis of just one typo.

 

Since potential employers view your résumé as an indicator of your professionalism, having a typo on your résumé is like showing up to an interview in torn jeans. If you can’t be bothered to spell words correctly when you’re trying to represent yourself, why should the company trust you to represent them to high-paying clients or partners?

 

The fix? Use spell check, but remember that spell check won’t catch words that are spelled correctly but not the word you mean—for instance, if you use though instead of through, their instead of there, affect instead of effect.

 

After your résumé passes the spell checker, read it backwards. It sounds silly, but trust us, it works. This way, you’ll stand a better chance of catching the typos your brain misses when it reads sentences and fills in the words it expects to see.

 

As a last check, give the résumé to one of your grammar-freak friends or to your English prof. They should be able to catch the stuff both you and the spell checker miss.

 

 

Blunder #2: Poor formatting

 

Your résumé is not the place to turn a Microsoft Word doc into an art canvas. Employers expect standardization in résumés. For you, that means the use of consistent bullet points, fonts, sizes, and colors throughout your résumé.

 

Some human resources staffers get dozens of résumés every day. They generally don’t have time to pore over every single one, so they may skim through them to make their first cut. They tend to expect a certain professional “look,” so if you deviate from that, your résumé may not ever make it out of H.R., no matter how amazingly qualified you are.

 

To help avoid some serious formatting faux pas, try using one of the many pre-formatted résumé templates that come with Word.

 

 

Blunder #3: Inappropriate e-mail addresses

 

You know the saying that there’s a time and a place for everything? Well, there’s no better time to heed that advice than when you’re including your e-mail address in a résumé. Your friends might think bootywitchabadself@yahoo.com is cute, but most prospective employers won’t.

 

Keep in mind that the people flipping through résumés don’t know you personally. Until you’re granted an interview, the only impression they have of you will depend on what you provide in your résumé and cover letter.

 

That being said, this issue has an easy fix. Simply register a neutral e-mail like your.name@gmail.com, and use that.

 

 

Blunder #4: Using personal pronouns

 

Personal pronouns can tend to sound more conversational and are typically best reserved for your cover letter. Don’t refer to yourself as “I” or “me” in your résumé. Instead, pretend that you’re someone else describing you to another person.

 

Monster.com offers a helpful example:

 

I developed a new product that added $2 million in sales and increased the market segment’s gross margin by 12%.

 

should be changed to:

 

Developed new product that added $2 million in sales and increased market segment’s gross margin by 12%.

 

 

Blunder #5: Listing irrelevant information

 

Personal details like your height, weight, or interest in running have no place in most résumés (the rules are a little different if you’re an actor or a model). Ask yourself before everything you type: “How is this relevant to the job I’m applying for?” If you can’t answer this question, chances are you should leave that little tidbit out. If you can’t figure out why something matters, an employer probably isn’t going to be able to either.

 

 

Blunder #6: Self-deprecation

 

Self-deprecating remarks can be disarming or even funny, but they may not have the intended effect on an employer, especially on paper, without your tone of voice to signal whether you’re joking or being sarcastic.

 

Ask yourself what you would think of someone who put things like this on her or his résumé:

 

Graduated in the top 66% of my class.

 

Previous experience: Self-employed—a fiasco.

 

If the people reading your résumé share your dry, self-flagellating sense of humor, they may think these lines showcase your wit. But if your potential employers are the more serious types, they may take these statements as signs of a mediocre flameout who doesn’t even know enough to present herself or himself professionally, in the best light.

 

To keep employers from seeing red flags that aren’t really there, leave the self-disparaging stuff for the people who know you and how great you are, no matter what you say.

 

 

Blunder #7: If you come across as too good to be true, you probably are

 

On the flip side of the coin, no employer wants to see things like this on a résumé either:

 

You hold in your hands the résumé of a truly outstanding candidate!

 

My intensity and focus are unmatchable, and my ability to deliver results will blow everyone else out of the water.

 

Hyperbole and breathless self-description is the province of used car salesmen and get-rich-quick scammers. Unless you want to be associated with that kind of late-night TV commercial, cool it on the self-proclamatory adjectives and stick to a “just the facts” delivery.

 

 

Blunder #8: Casting yourself as a jack-of-all-trades

 

Job seekers, like politicians, often feel the need to be all things to all people. This manifests itself in a résumé where someone claims to be proficient in many areas of a job. There’s nothing wrong with being well-rounded, but a lot of job candidates can be just kinda good at several things. The way you’re going to stand out and separate yourself from the pack is by being fantastically good—better than anyone else—in one or two key areas.

 

Instead of emphasizing the intermediate or cursory knowledge you have of multiple topics, position yourself as an expert in one or two subjects. Your goal should be for potential employers to associate you with the one or two things you excel at.

 

This kind of targeted expertise will also be essential to your promotion prospects in most organizations: Most companies are looking to promote the person they can’t replace, the person who stands above everyone else, even if it’s just in one particular area—you can become the company’s go-to person and subject-matter expert for that field, and it all starts with how you introduce yourself in your résumé.