The most common resume mistakes are sending the same resume to every job, writing duties instead of evidence, using a layout software can't read, and letting dates, titles, or links go out of sync. Each one makes real qualifications harder to see. Use this page as the last check before you apply; the linked guides go deeper on each fix.
1. Sending the same resume everywhere
Identical emphasis for every employer can hide your fit. Keep a complete base resume, then reorder and edit a copy around each role's required outcomes, tools, and context. Don't change facts to mirror the posting.
Fix: A project coordinator applying for a vendor-management role could move supplier communication and contract tracking above unrelated administrative work. The guide to tailoring your resume to a job description walks through these decisions step by step.
2. Listing duties instead of evidence
A job description says what a role does in general. Your bullets should show what you did, in context, with evidence where you have it.
Before:
Responsible for monthly reports.
After:
Prepared monthly budget reports for department leads and resolved source-data discrepancies before review.
Never invent a metric or claim a team's result as yours alone. For the full method and more examples, see how to write resume bullet points.
3. Long duty lists that bury the point
Keep a detail when it proves a qualification, explains your scope, or shows a useful result; compress it otherwise. Keep accurate titles and dates while you change the emphasis.
4. Crowded or inconsistent formatting
Dense pages, long paragraphs, inconsistent dates, and competing styles slow a reader down. Use concise bullets, clear headings, enough contrast, and a readable font that exports well.
Don't shrink the text until it's hard to read just to hit a page count. The guide to how many pages a resume should be helps you decide what to cut instead.
5. A layout an ATS can't parse
Graphics, multiple columns, and text inside images can scramble what an applicant tracking system extracts. Use the requested file type, standard section names, selectable text, and a logical reading order. The ATS-friendly resume checks show how to test an exported file.
6. Details that don't agree
Dates, titles, locations, credentials, and application answers should match everywhere. Check tense, date formats, punctuation, names, and links, then inspect the exact file you'll submit. A source document can look right while the export has clipped text, a broken link, or a blank page.
Reading from the bottom up can catch line-level errors. Read normally afterward to check meaning and flow, and ask someone who knows the field to check unfamiliar terminology.
7. Contact details and links that let you down
Use a monitored, professional email address and check every character. Don't assume a full street address, photo, or personal details belong on every resume; in the US and Canada, photos and personal details such as age or marital status are generally left off. Follow the employer's instructions where they say otherwise.
Include a portfolio or professional profile only when it's current, relevant, and public. Open every link while signed out.
Final check before you apply
- The target role and your relevant qualifications are clear at the top.
- Each major claim is accurate and supportable.
- Headings, dates, spacing, and type are consistent throughout.
- Page count and file type follow the application's rules.
- The posting's terminology appears naturally and truthfully.
- Contact details and links work.
- The exported file is readable and complete.
If you tailor with Better Resume, each tailored copy comes with a review of which posting requirements your resume supports and which are gaps, which helps with the first two items on this list.