5 Most Common Resume Blunders5 Most Common Resume Blunders

You only have one chance to make a first impression. That's a scary proposition given the overwhelming number of resumes flooding today's human resources departments. A single misstep can easily eliminate an IT professional's chances of qualifying for a prized position.

What's worse, recent research from IT staffing agency Robert Half Technology indicates that IT hiring managers, on average, spend just two minutes reviewing an applicant's resume--precious little time to convince an employer that you're the perfect person for the job.

"Your resume needs to be concise, to the point, and targeted if you want to make a positive impression within those two minutes," advised John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology.

Read on to find out IT applicants' most common resume blunders and how to avoid them.

Fail 1: Not Specifying Skills
Techies love to wax on about their IT experiences but many fail to offer detailed descriptions of the skills they relied on to execute a project successfully. "They talk about their experience when they really need to be talking about the skills that they used during that experience," said Ira S. Wolfe, president of Success Performance Solutions, and author of Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization: How to Manage the Convergence of the Wired, the Tired, and Technology.

[ More advice for your job search: 10 LinkedIn Tips for IT Pros. ]

"Defining a project is about highlighting the skills they used, such as analytical abilities and collaboration skills, and how they engaged other people. In other words, what skills did they use to overcome obstacles."

Fail 2: Not Knowing Your Audience
Many IT professionals create a single resume and send it out to each and every potential employer. However, Wolfe warns, "The mistake is not understanding the company you're applying to work for. Altering or tailoring your resume for each employer is a much better idea and shows an awareness of the culture you're hoping to join."

But that's not all. While traditional companies may prefer that resumes be delivered via email, Wolfe said, "There are a lot of creative ways to get your resume to grab the attention of an IT manager, including LinkedIn and Instagram."

Fail 3: Ignoring Business Sense
Forget about highlighting your Excel spreadsheet skills. Today's hiring managers are looking for applicants with strong business acumen and a grasp of industry trends. "It's all about critical thinking and how you can help that organization capture the information that they need, highlight it, and have a vision for that data," said Wolfe. "The question is how can you mine the data and help that organization apply it, rather than just be the IT guy who collects the data."

Fail 4: Typos Or Poor Grammar
Spell check might have helped many an engineer graduate from college--but it isn't always an IT applicant's best friend. "According to research conducted by one of our divisions, 84% of executives said it takes just one or two typographical errors in a resume to remove a candidate from consideration for a job opening," warned Reed. "Before you send it out, read your resume out loud, from top to bottom, and pass it by a friend or family member to ensure everything is perfect."

Fail 5: Substandard Content
Tone and content count when creating a resume, so avoid "cute and clever language," according to Reed. "Hiring managers won't be amused by puns and jokes. Play it straight and focus on your skills and experience. After all, you wouldn't wear a clown costume to a job interview just to stand out, right?"

Another mistake to avoid: "Vagueness," stated Reed. "Include enough detail to describe your experience and grab the hiring manager's attention. Listing only a job title and an ambiguous description of contributions isn't fair and won't pique a company's interest. On the other hand, don't overdo it by using a ton of adjectives or business phrases. Write your resume so the hiring manager can quickly and easily understand what you bring to the table. "

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