What the Interviewer Will Not Say about Your Resume

2 min read
A girl covering her face to signify your resume mistakes

After an interview has been concluded, the most common thing the interviewer will say to the applicant is “we will keep you posted about your application and we will shortlist your resume for future evaluation.” Applicants do not immediately receive job offers unless he is the son or daughter of a politician.

Ask yourself the following question: Have I included certain elements, which I think could have worried or agitated the interviewer?

If you think that your curriculum vitae is at least four pages long, suffers from a myriad of grammatical and typographical errors, unprofessional in terms of presentation, and contains boilerplate statements and templates, then it is very possible for it to become a subject of ridicule for the interviewer.

Normally, the interviewer-interviewee is seen as a professional interaction where the interviewer asks questions focusing on the interviewee’s career. What happens after the applicant leaves the interview room? Does the interviewer maintain the same level of professionalism he/she have shown to the applicant?

According to career analysts, interviewers do not have to configure their professionalism in terms of recommending the applicant’s curriculum vitae to the Human Resource office.

Possible Things Interviewers Won’t Say about Your Resume

Here are a few possible things that interviewers will not tell the applicants about their resumes:

  • I had a hard time reading this three-page resume.

Interviewers are very busy persons responsible for accommodating and entertaining applicants for a whole day. They do not have time to read long resumes, and they will never directly say this to applicants as not to demoralize or weaken their interest at the company they are applying for.

  • Multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and capable. Nothing unusual going on in here.

Interviewers are exposed to boilerplate templates that applicants consistently use on their resumes. The problem with statements like multi-faceted is that it does not promote the applicant’s qualifications. Interviewers will sometimes mock resumes that like to play it safe with clichéd adjectives and flat statements.

  • The applicant does not know how to spell.

Interviewers will poke fun at applicants who do not know to spell properly. The interviewer wants a little comedy once in a while, and they will not share their laughter with the applicant.

  • I really do not know what the applicant is trying to prove.

If the interviewer does not get the gist of the resume, then they will just drop the application. Vague and confusing applications are favourite subjects for ridicule inside the HR office.

Linda Roberts is part of a research team providing various resource materials to many different corporate recruitment departments.

Image Source by Caleb Woods on Unsplash

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