28 Hiring Managers Share What Makes A Resume Immediately Worthless To Them

Bored Panda got in touch with Charnay Horton, who is the CEO of Resume Addict and she kindly agreed to share her professional insights and tips that everyone must know when creating their resumes!

“The ultimate goal is to match what keywords and qualifications are in the job description,” she notes. “The hiring manager is looking to solve a problem in their department. The goal of the resume is to showcase how you can solve their problem.”

Also, Charnay shares that hiring managers will discard a resume if it has irrelevant work experience, lacks keywords aligned with the role or has a lot of typos. You also want to make sure your resume isn't too long. 

“Employers tend to be most interested in your last 3 positions, or last 7-10 years of work experience,” she emphasizes. It’s important that your contact information is up to date, formatting is easy to read and consistent.

Speaking about traditional industries such as healthcare or education, Charnay notes that employment timeframes are important. “If a traditional hiring manager sees that you have had a new job every year, they may consider you a job hopper and decide not to move forward with you.”

Now, the CEO of Resume Addict emphasizes that while colors and fancy layouts can be aesthetically pleasing, employers just want to know if you can do the job. “Content will always conquer fancy layouts and colors. Keep it simple with a black-and-white layout, with maybe a pop of color, and focus on your impact in each position,” she added.

We also asked Charnay if there are specific elements in a resume that should always be tailored to the job in question. “Yes, each area of the resume should align with the requirements of the role in some way,” she notes.

“For example, you should have a skills section that has 10-15 position-specific keywords. You'll want to quantify your achievements as much as possible,” she elaborates. “Use metrics, numbers, and percentages to demonstrate your impact. If you have a summary statement, it shouldn't be generic. Think of it as a mini cover letter. What makes you different? What can you do for them?”

Finally, Charnay notes that resumes are meant to tell your story. They should be deliberate about what the job description requests. Rejections will result from casting a net too wide, and it can be quite distressing. Be as explicit as possible about the positions you wish to attract, and try your best to meet their requests!

And of course, don’t forget to check out Resume Addict’s Instagram, TikTok and website! There you can find useful tips that may actually help you get your dream job!

For more professional insights, Bored Panda got in touch with Farah Sharghi, who is a career coach.

“I once had a hiring manager at Google completely discard a resume due to a spelling mistake,” she shared. “He said ‘There is a spelling mistake which means they don't pay attention to detail.’” So don’t submit a resume where you have written that you pay attention to details and have spelling mistakes in it - because you have just contradicted yourself.

One more point to keep in mind according to Farah is resume length versus resume context. “Your ability to edit your work history is a reflection of what type of work you will present at your job,” she notes. “For example, if you have 5 years of work experience and your resume is 3 pages long, then that can demonstrate that you will be long-winded when explaining your work and don't understand what's important.”

Speaking about formatting, Farah emphasizes that using Canva, clip art and icons is not the best idea. “I call these ‘Cheesecake Factory Resumes' because they look like Cheesecake Factory menus. Your resume is a business document, not a marketing pamphlet.”

She highlights that your resume needs to be easy to read and easy for the Applicant Tracking System to be able to extract text from the resume. “Recruiters are scanning hundreds of resumes per day and if it's too hard to read, it will be rejected.”

Finally, Farah says that when creating a resume, think of a job description as a cheat sheet - it’s literally telling you what they need in a candidate. “Go through your resume and go by each job description bullet point and make sure that your resume outlines very clearly that you have that experience.

”She adds that customizing your resume isn’t lying about your experience, it’s about making it obvious that you have the experience that they need. “Recruiters and hiring managers don't have time to play the guessing game and read between the lines. Make it easy for them to hire you.”

Also, don’t forget to check out Farah’s TikTok, Instagram, YouTube And LinkedIn to get more career tips!