Red flags are an indication of possible danger. When the temperature is hot with low humidity and the winds are high, red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service to indicate a high probability of raging wildfires. Hurricane warnings are indicated by a red flag with a black square in the middle of it. In the 1700’s red flags were first used as to indicate floods.
So, what does that have to do with resumés? Everything, it turns out!
When it comes to resumes, Hiring Managers look for red flags in order to put your resume into the reject pile. Many Hiring Managers will look for red flags before actually considering the contents of the resume itself, for fear of making the dreaded hiring mistake! If done improperly, a resumé can harm you more than hurt you.
Resumé red flags can take on many forms. They can be stylistic or they can rear their ugly head based on the perceptions of the person reviewing the document. We will call these content-based red flags.
STYLISTIC RED FLAGS
Many issues with presentation can be remedied by simply running a spell-check and proof-reading your resumé (More than once!). Also, be sure to use your phone-a-friend option and get a friend, lover, domestic partner, acquaintance, family member or neighbor to critically review it. If you don’t have any of these people in your life, or if you just don’t trust their judgment, then there are other options.
Option A, you can always hire someone (like me) to build or review your resumé. Then again, if all else fails you can always go to an employment agency or a recruiter. Employment agencies will work with you to make sure that your resumé is presentable to their clients. After all, resumés are their main source of advertising if you think about it. Keep in mind, some of the suggested modifications an agency may make are not always the greatest. At the minimum, you are getting a free set of eyes to review your resumé!
Some of the most obvious resumé errors reside in the header. Margins are not lined up properly or information is dated. It is certainly a red flag when a Hiring Manager cannot contact you for an interview because you used an old e-mail address or a phone number that has since been disconnected.
Little things like font variations (both type and size), bad grammar, misspellings, inconsistent headings or margins (for example justified in one section vs. non-justified in another) are all things that scream “I can’t review my own work!”
Every bullet point should in each section should be formatted exactly the same. If you go all caps, or bold or italic, stick with it. Variation makes it harder to read and looks sloppy.
CONTENT-BASED RED FLAGS
Certain things do not present well and will need to be mitigated, either through the Cover Letter or by changing your resumé presentation.
Job Jumping. If your resumé shows multiple short duration jobs, you may be branded as a job-jumper. One little trick to work around this is to only show the year starting an ending a job. 2018-2020 looks better than December 2018, – January, 2020. That’s 2 years vs. 13 months!
Another factor to consider is if there is value added in including a job with a term worked of less than a year. Unless you gained some tremendous or relevant skill that relates to the job you are applying for, it may be best to consider omitting the position from the resumé. Bottom line, I would go far as to say that it is safer to show a long gap between jobs than to show a resumé that screams “jumping.”
Long gaps in employment. Sometimes, shit happens. Companies go belly up, managers change, economies bust, bubbles burst and markets dry up or become obsolete (How would you like to be a typewriter repairperson looking for a job right now?).
Unfortunately, there are some Hiring Managers who have the attitude that if someone is out of work for an extended period of time it is because they are non-hirable. If someone is that callous, they might be doing the applicant a favor. What is going to happen when you have to approach the manager with a personal problem or family emergency. Clearly, they lack basic human compassion. Who wants to work for a sociopathic asshole like that?
If you have been out of work for a while, it may be good idea to explain why in the Cover Letter. Nothing with a ton of detail, but a basic explanation. I always feel the truth is the best way to go…or you can just say you have been on a Sabbatical in the Himalayas.
Relevant Experience to the Job Posting. Another red flag is work experience indicated on the resumé that is not relevant to the employer’s job posting. Although this Cover Letter format will highlight your experience as it relates to the job, it still would not hurt to reread your resumé before hitting the send button and making sure that your experience is relevant
Finally, the same relevancy argument can be made for a degree / certification. If you are a nuclear engineer applying for a job as a supermarket manager, you can probably anticipate the Hiring Manager thinking WTF? He or she might even interview because they are curious. I would be!
CONCLUSION
One of my favorite shows, Better Call Saul, shows Saul, an attorney who applies for a job as a salesman to sell copiers. Huge red flag, the two guys who interview do not want to hire him because he is an attorney with a suspended Law License. In the scene below, Saul comes back and destroys the interview by relaying his experience in the copy room where he got started with a law firm.
This is the best way to address red flags. Don’t hide them. Don’t run from them. Put them out there in front of the Hiring Manager’s fearful little face and then tell them why they have nothing to fear! Don’t just do this on the Cover Letter or the resumé, make sure to reiterate it in the interview as well! Never stop selling.