Top 7 Reasons Why Resumes Get Rejected

If you’re someone who went through the trial and tribulation of the job search journey, you know the pain that comes with it – job application rejection, failure to get a call back from the recruiter, and whatnot. You might be wondering what exactly went wrong. Is it really you? Well, it’s not you but your ‘oh-so-perfect resume’ that you thought was so good that it will attract recruiters like bees to honey. Being exceptionally talented and qualified doesn’t mean that you’re automatically hired. If you want to sell yourself, you need to make your resume attractive enough for recruiters to recognize your talent. 

So, what exactly is a resume, and what resume mistakes can cost you your dream job?

What is a Resume?

Resumes are a reflection of your professional and academic journey. And so, the first impression counts. A resume is a 1-2 page document that contains your achievements, qualification, certifications, and everything you did throughout your professional career. A recruiter typically takes between 10 to 30 seconds to recognize the potential candidate for the job. The resume is that document that helps them to understand if the candidate is fit to be interviewed or not. 9 out of 10 job candidates complain about not getting selected in the first round – the Resume screening process. All this boils down to a poorly structured resume that is hindering you from landing your dream job.

Why Resumes Get Rejected?

Unable to figure out the block in your Resume? Here are 7 reasons why your Resume may have been rejected:

1. Resume isn’t ATS-Proof

An Application Tracking System (ATS) is a software program that manages the hiring process in companies – it helps to track candidates who are the best fit for the job. ATS factors the suitable profiles based on the keywords in the job description. If your application is rejected in the screening round, it means your Resume is put out of human sight by ATS.

How to Improve: Make sure you read the job description carefully and note the keywords. After that, incorporate the relevant keywords in your resume, preferably in the experience or skills section. Although, do not just random stuff the keywords to make your resume ATS friendly – but put keywords in a relevant and honest manner.

2. Not Tailoring Resume According To Job Opportunity

Time and again, the candidates send out the same resume for different job profiles. However, a one-type-fits-all resume reduces your chances of being selected for the befitting job profiles. So, if you are being rejected repeatedly, it might be that the skills and experience in your resume do not match the requirements in the job posting.

How to Improve: The best way to overcome this issue is to tailor your resume according to every job posting. That doesn’t mean you have to create your resume from scratch. Rather, identify the experiences and skills relevant to the position you are applying for. Here are some points to avoid: 

• Irrelevant work experience
• Irrelevant hobbies and interest 
• Exaggerated or overused keywords

3. Your Resume Does Not Highlight the Impact 

While designing the resume, the candidate fails to account for his contribution to the tasks completed. For example: If you write ‘Worked on devising new strategies for the flagship project’. That sounds too vague and does not enlighten the recruiter on what good happened after devising strategies. This way, the recruiter fails to understand your contribution and rejects the application.

How to Improve: You can get away with this problem by showing the impact of your work. The above example could be rephrased as ‘Devised new strategies for the flagship project to increase sales by 60 percent.’ You can similarly improve on the relevant experiences on your resume by quantifying the impact.

4. Poorly Structured Resume

Recruiters often complain about the messy resumes that candidates submit. Wondering what a messy Resume is? Well, it’s the one with poor structuring, hither-thither sections, sentences, etc. Remember, all it takes is a single look by the recruiters to decide whether they want to move forward with your application or not. If you can’t make the most of these few seconds, your application is bound to be rejected.

How to Improve: You must keep your resume well-organized and not exceed more than 1-1.5 pages. Whether you are applying for an entry-level job or a mid-level career switch, use a clear layout. If you are someone in the creative field, you can add some colors or designs but do not go overboard with them. However, the simpler the resume, the more attractive. Use bullet points to segregate your experience details for the ease-of-reading.

5. Resume Includes Misleading Information

Nowadays, recruiters undertake a candidate’s thorough background check before moving forward with the application. With the increasing demand for jobs, candidates often add information that’s unoriginal or misleading in their resumes. Some common examples of misleading information are:

• Inaccuracies of date
• Poorly covered-up employment gaps
• Inflated salaries
• Hackneyed job duties and roles

Such instances in resumes are a big turn-off for recruiters. In some cases, this may even lead to black-listing from companies if caught, let alone rejection of the resume.

How to Improve: To escape such instances, you must first learn to accept who you are. Using someone else’s experience or adding misleading information will not serve you well for a very long time. If you feel you are lagging in relevant skills, then invest time and work on them.

6. Poorly Edited Resume Format

Every 8 out of 10 resumes come littered with spelling mistakes and poor editing. Despite being one of the most common problems in a resume, the candidates fail to pay heed to it and end up being rejected in the screening round. Remember, there is no room for spelling and grammar goofs in your resume since recruiters downright dismiss such applications.

How to improve: A tip to produce error-free resumes is to use one of the many available grammars and spell check applications on the internet. They serve the purpose to a great extent. Moreover, you can politely ask a friend or a family member to review your resume. The second set of eyes may catch mistakes that you might have missed.

7. Your Resume Has Excessive Subjective Skill

The word ‘Skill’ has undoubtedly been the buzz in recent years. Kudos if you are aware of that! However, recruiters look for a mix of subjective and technical skills. Most of the time, candidates flood their resumes with only soft skills such as diligence, hard work, etc. These add to all the resume rejection reasons.

How to Improve: Legend says “Excess of anything and everything is bad.” You must incorporate soft and technical skills in a 50-50 ratio. Some examples of technical skills for your resume are programming knowledge, project management, data visualization and analytics, digital literacy, etc.

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Key Takeaways:

The competition in the job market is intense. In years to come, it will become more challenging to manifest your uniqueness and fit in the job market. Nonetheless, there is nothing in the world that you can’t excel and landing your dream job is one of them. Being the first rung of your career ladder, a resume requires your undivided attention. Use the tips above, and invest some time while no one can stop you from mastering the art of a stellar resume.