Resume Faux Pas and Things That Get You Hired

Hiring managers judge the good, bad and ugly when it comes to resumes

The folks at Careerbuilder.com see lots of resumes. Most are bland and boring. A few are disasters and even fewer are inspiring.

The right resume can get you hired, of course, and the disastrous ones get put up on the bulletin board in the lunchroom. Careerbuilder hired Harris Interactive to consult with 2,298 hiring manager about the good, the bad and the ugly, when it comes to resumes.

Ugh!

First, the truly horrendous ones. Careerbuilder says these are actual examples provided by the surveyed hiring managers:

Candidate called himself a genius and invited the hiring manager to interview him at his apartment.

Candidate's cover letter talked about her family being in the mob.

Candidate applying for a management job listed "gator hunting" as a skill.

Candidate's resume included phishing as a hobby.

Candidate specified that her resume was set up to be sung to the tune of "The Brady Bunch."

Candidate highlighted the fact that he was "Homecoming Prom Prince" in 1984.

Candidate claimed to be able to speak "Antartican" when applying for a job to work in Antarctica.

Candidate's resume had a photo of the applicant reclining in a hammock under the headline "Hi, I'm _ and I'm looking for a job."

Candidate's resume was decorated with pink rabbits.

Candidate listed "to make dough" as the objective on the resume.

Candidate applying for an accounting job said he was "deetail-oriented" and spelled the company's name incorrectly.

Candidate's cover letter contained "LOL." 

Neat!

But some candidates for jobs reached into their creative bag of tricks to craft a resume that commanded attention. Here are some examples that worked:

Candidate sent his resume in the form of an oversized Rubik's Cube, where you had to push the tiles around to align the resume. He was hired.

Candidate who had been a stay-at-home mom listed her skills as nursing, housekeeping, chef, teacher, bio-hazard cleanup, fight referee, taxi driver, secretary, tailor, personal shopping assistant and therapist. She was hired.

Candidate created a marketing brochure promoting herself as the best candidate and was hired.

Candidate listed accomplishments and lessons learned from each position. He gave examples of good customer service he provided as well as situations he wished he would have handled differently. He was hired.

Candidate applying for a food and beverage management position sent a resume in the form of a fine-dining menu and was hired.

Candidate crafted his resume to look like Google search results for the "perfect candidate." Candidate ultimately wasn't hired, but was considered.

Make a good first impression

With unemployment at 8.2 percent and the economy in low gear, looking for a job is harder than ever. That means making a great first impression.

"One-in-five HR managers reported that they spend less than 30 seconds reviewing applications and around 40 percent spend less than one minute," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. "It's a highly competitive job market and you have to clearly demonstrate how your unique skills and experience are relevant and beneficial to that particular employer. We see more people using infographics, QR codes and visual resumes to package their information in new and interesting ways."

According to the surveyed hiring managers, there are some simple dos and don'ts when it comes to crafting a resume. For starters, there should be zero typos. Don't copy and paste wording from the job posting. And don't list an inappropriate or unprofessional email address.

Make your resume short and concise. It should not be more than two pages long. Make sure it lists your accomplishments and skills and how you used them in a previous position.

How they voted

Yes

Yes