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Career

Don’t Make These Résumé Mistakes!

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Fairfield chapter.

Don’t Make These Résumé Mistakes!

By Kara Eckert

One of the first things that potential employers look at is your résumé. It allows them to see your qualifications, skills, and experience. Creating a good résumé is crucial for making a good first impression so it is important that you avoid these common résumé mistakes:

  1. Grammar and Punctuation- Make sure that you are writing grammatically correct sentences and using correct punctuation. Not doing so will convey to a potential employer that your writing and communication skills are poor. It also gives the impression that you did not proofread your résumé and therefore, are sloppy with your work. 
  2. Non-important Information- Your résumé will most likely be read over quickly, so it is important that all information is clearly articulated and descriptions are not too long. With overly wordy and vague information, it is difficult to pinpoint and piece together what you are trying to convey in your descriptions. Not being able to find important information quickly will result in an employer overlooking your experiences and skills. 
  3. Bad Formatting- Like we said, your résumé may be looked over rather quickly. This makes clear and easy to follow formatting essential. You want information to be easily picked out. You can do this by not using hard to read fonts, bolding and underlining, and small margins. Instead, stick to Times New Roman and Ariel, put headers in all capitals, and increase margin size so everything fits neatly and does not appear scrambled. Remember, the better organized your résumé, the better organized you appear to a potential employer. 

Good luck writing your new résumé!

XO Kara

Kara Eckert

Fairfield '26

Kara Eckert is a writer and editor for the Careers and Networking section at the Fairfield University chapter. She writes about ways to kick start your career while attending college and about opportunities for networking around campus. She is dedicated to helping Fairfield students learn about new strategies and opportunities for building a fulfilling career. Kara is a double major in International Studies and Spanish and has a minor in Humanitarian Action. She takes lots of course work that involves writing and editing- which is why she loves Her Campus! Outside of Fairfield, Kara loves skiing and hiking and you can find her in the mountains during breaks from school. She also loves a day trip into New York City to explore the museums. Most notably though, Kara loves shopping!