Interview Tips >How to Proofread Your Resume
Employers have very limited time to see if you are a better candidate than the hundreds of other applications they receive. Resumes that have a single spelling or grammatical error may be quickly thrown out, because the employer still has 299 other applicants (or more) that took the time to make sure their resume was completely error free.
That is why proofreading your resume is incredibly important. Here are several proofreading tips to make sure your resume is perfect.
Resume Proofreading Tips
- Read it out loud, slowly.
One of the best ways to make sure your resume has very few errors is to slowly read it to yourself out loud. Enunciate each word and make sure it sounds grammatically correct.
- Look for squiggly lines.
Modern Microsoft Word spell checkers do a good job checking for spelling, grammar, and even verb confusion. If you see any squiggly lines underneath any of the words in your resume, there is a good chance it is an error.
- Don’t use a thesaurus.
Using big words does not make you sound smart. Using big words make it look like you tried to hard to make your resume sound smart. Larger words are not always synonymous with the word that you searched for in the thesaurus. If you don’t use the word in real life, don’t use it on your resume.
- Check punctuation.
When you have bulleted lists, make sure that you are consistent with your punctuation. Every bullet point should either have a period or no period, but it is all or nothing. Don’t put a period at the end of some bullets and not at the end of others.
- Check tenses.
Many people change tense in their resumes, especially when editing an old resume. Make sure that your entire resume is in the past tense, unless currently employed.
- Look at the design.
Take a step back and look at the design of your resume. Does it look visually appealing? If it looks cluttered or awkward, chances are it will look cluttered or awkward to the employer.
- Have someone else read it.
The best way to make sure your resume is perfect is to have someone else check it for errors. Sometimes it is hard to see an error that you created, since your brain thinks it is accurate. Other people will be seeing your resume with fresh eyes.
Check Before You Send
Before you send in any resume, make sure you have checked it thoroughly for errors. A single mistake can be the difference between getting an interview and getting ignored.
Take Away Tips
- Always check your resume.
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