'Unprofessional pictures': 30+ instant turn-offs on job applications, according to recruiters

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    Resume Flops
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    r/AskReddit Posted by u/khlose Recruiters of Reddit, what is the one instant turn-off that people still have on their resumes?
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    curiouspursuit People who tie themselves in knots to fit exactly into whatever resume template they are using. Combining jobs because you want to list 4 but the template has space for 3. Using a template with like 8 bullet points for "awards" and digging so deep you're listing "second grader of the month May 1992" I usually point to the offending section and ask "what are you trying to tell the person reading this?" And if you cant answe that question it doesn't need to be there. 7.2k ↓ Share
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    [deleted]. Typos, irrelevant information especially, recently a resume came in that had the person's name, contact info, high school info, and 1 job experience: McDonalds. The whole resume was 1/3rd sheet of paper. We loved it, its all we needed to know, compared to mr. I like to take long walks on the beach. We really don't have time to read even the page you submit, so if it has to be a page, it better be good. Also we had a guy send a 5 page resume, which is extreme but it was for a higher po
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    neibegafig I had a resume once state for work experience being "Hacker - The Internet" Other gems included in the resume were: "I've been both fired and hired for hacking various things" "I've never been convicted of a computer crime" I will admit it gave me a chuckle but certainly was a deterrant for the job. 5.1k Share
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    [deleted] They have just stacks and stacks of pages. Like 40 page resumes. 4.2k Share
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    Zhaelthas not using something as simple as capital letters at the start of sentences. and capitalizing Words that do not need to be capitalized. 3.9k Share
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    Tim Not common but a couple months ago, this kid applied to my clinic for assistant stuff. The Comic Sans. Yuck. thing was in I actually felt bad so I sent him an email with small pointers and improvements he could do on his resume. Doing my civic duty yippee! ↑ 3.7k ↓ Share
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    CreampuffOfLove How has no one mentioned the Bible verse quotes?! Or do I just get all the nutjobs who think that's appropriate for a 2.7k resume? Share
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    sixesand7s. 2 My friend had someone come into his work with a resume a few years back, one of the "achievements" he had listed was, "Able to walk extremely long distances without getting tired" EDIT: I feel I should add, he was applying at a millwork finishing shop 2.2k ↓ Share
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    Vergils_Lost Former recruiter. The only thing I don't already see mentioned here already is a mission statement for a totally different industry. "Looking for an exciting career in zookeeping" while applying to an office job is a great way to see that you're going to leave as soon as you get the job you ACTUALLY wanted. To a lesser extent, also really vague mission statements. That shows you have no idea what you want, which can be fine in some contexts, but is going to lose out to someone who k
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    [deleted] A cover letter or objective that is all about what the job can do for you: "I am a recent graduate seeking a role where I can apply my knowledge and grow my career. I am looking to learn new skills and be challenged and to enjoy the work I do." I'm so pleased to hear what you want. What can you offer me? Ask not what your employer can do for you, ask what you can do for your employer. 1.7k Share
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    Skinny Testaverde. I'm not a recruiter but I have been in charge of hiring, and I hate objectives. They're useless and waste space, in my opinion. Also I don't like repetitive bullet points; if you did the same thing at a bunch of different jobs, mix it up and show me what OTHER things you did at the jobs. They're not dealbreakers of course, just annoyances. ✩ 1.7k Share
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    DeepFried Plumbus. The other day I had someone list "Pre- School" along with the name of the school under their education section 1.3k Share
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    techtchotchke. I hire a lot of front-end developers and UI/UX designers. About a quarter of the resumes I consider have a portfolio or personal site link that is dead. Make sure your site is live before you send out your resume! 1.1k Share
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    Woodcharles. I've spent years eyeballs- deep in a couple of much-beloved MMOS I've been there, pulled the all-nighters, rolled on the loot, I get it - so I can almost understand the temptation, but please for the love of God don't start banging on about how leading your guild and planning raid strategies is remotely connected to the job you're applying for. 758 Share
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    *** mannyrmz123 Photos. I don't care how you look, you just need to get stuff done. 744 Share
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    HauteGarbage. Generic qualities like "self-starter" or "go- getter". Yeah man, you're trying to get a job, those things are super obvious. 742 Share
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    SaltYourPopcorn. Typos in any part of the resume. If you didn't take time to carefully proofread, you won't take the time to do the job well. ↑ 727 ↓ Share
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    Tracyannk28 Adding Facebook, Twitter and Instagram under "technical skills". ✩704 Share
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    [deleted] My brother works at camping world and told me someone wrote on their resume " If you don't want me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best". Who the puts that on a resume? What does that have to do with camping world? She was 29 years old for gods sake. 683 Share
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    Shoofro Ridiculous corporate jargon - "In my last position, I leveraged synergies between business units to create value and a win-win scenario which empowered other business units to think outside the box and take a deep dive into core competencies to create buy-in and game changing results." Next. 452 Share
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    mazimaxi. This isnt common nor should be, but im gonna share it anyway. A guy turned in a resume for a sales job with a picture of his face and a pie chart breaking down his "amazing" traits like listening and dedication. 397 Share
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    50Shades OfVader I have seen a few people mention their hobbies and interests on their resume, it's actually not needed. That's something the recruiter will ask in an in-person interview to see how you will fit within the company environment. 388 Share
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    xDommy. I worked in a college career development office for a few years and what may not be the biggest mistake, but the most common was improper formatting, almost half of students that came to us for help seemed like they had never seen a resume before. We had students not even have their name on their own resume. 365 Share ...
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    enolic2000 As a recruiter/hiring manager, I can say that there is no right or wrong way to do a resume. It all depends upon who is looking at it and what they are looking for. it might be perfect for someone, while someone else might hate it. You just never know. Do what you think is right and don't sweat it. You could be the perfect candidate, but they picked someones kid instead. 304 Share
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    Alec122 Not a recruiter, but I had a friend back in the day who thought it was cute to put funny stuff on his resume when it was actually kinda cringe worthy. Like he put under skills "I can do a Batman impression my niece loves!" When your pushing 25, you just sound immature. It's a job interview. Not a date. Your not trying to charm this person with cute stories that show you would be a good dad. Dude never got the jobs he wanted to this day. 237 Share
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    jovies07 A lot of things: • They put a list of hobbies irrelevant to the position. I absolutely don't care if you are a great football player.
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    ● Unprofessional pictures, I cannot even remember the approximate amount of resumes with people who clearly had a lot of likes in a particular pic from Facebook on a wedding who crop it and paste it on the resume while looking at least a little hoping to receive the same recognition they got on social media. I personally don't care about the photo, but there are a lot of recruiters who still do, so I advise that if you want your picture on your resume, pay a photographer for a professional portr
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    • Recruiters receive so many resumes that we don't care about the introduction so many people write. A lot of the candidates give of themselves "I am a focused perso-yadda yadda yadda". We check out the experience first, if it makes sense with the job, then we will call you, it's more about compatibility than presentation.
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    • I don't know why there are so many typos in professional resumes, that's always a turn off for some positions.
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    • When it's obvious that the resume was designed by the candidate on power point or photoshop. Those have a lot of banners with stupid word art typography, I can't tell you how terrible this looks. It's better if you just write it down without any format on word, and it's even better if you spend 5 bucks on a template. Leave design to the designers.
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    • When it's more than 3 pages long (which is still too long). No matter who you are, you can compact your whole experience in 2 pages. Not many people realize this, but you can't expect the recruiter to read all of your resume with caution when they have 99 more resumes for the same position and you have to hire someone really soon, so if your resume is 10 pages long (and a lot of them are), that can actually hurt you. Edit: added more stuff. 159 Share

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