Ten resume mistakes that get applications discarded (and how to fix them)

A recruiter reads many resumes in a short time, so anything that makes the reader's job harder is enough to move on. Spain's public employment service warns that spelling or grammar mistakes can mean an immediate rejection, and that a resume should show you can be objective: neither too modest nor too “salesy”.

The ten mistakes below are the ones careers services and recruiters mention most. Each has a fix you can apply in minutes.

1. 1Spelling and grammar errors. They are the quickest way to be discarded. Read it aloud, run a spellchecker and ask someone else to read it. Do it in the language of the job, whatever that is.
2. 2The same resume for every job. Careers services agree: adapt it to each job. Change the headline and the order of bullets so what the ad asks for comes first, in its own words.
3. 3Duties instead of results. “Responsible for social media” says what the job was, not what you did. The National Careers Service suggests two or three lines per role using STAR: situation, task, action, result.
4. 4Clichés and personality traits as bullets. “Hard-working and reliable” proves nothing. Replace each trait with a task or a fact.
5. 5Too long. Prospects recommends no more than two A4 pages, and the US Department of Labor's CareerOneStop says two only if your experience requires it.
6. 6Irrelevant or very old information. Cut roles that have nothing to do with the target job. For long careers, CareerOneStop suggests including only the jobs that add the most value, usually from the past 12 to 15 years.
7. 7Course names and hours instead of skills. Spain's service advises turning courses into the skills you gained.
8. 8Unexplained gaps. The Federal Employment Agency in Germany says to explain any break of more than two months and write what you did. Spain's and the UK's services give similar advice.
9. 9An unprofessional email address, or your work one. Use a neutral address with your name. Spain's service points out that applying from a work email suggests you spend work time job hunting.
10. 10Sending without checking. Check the company name, the attachments and the subject line before you send. Put the job or reference in the subject, not “CV”.

• Read each bullet and ask: what did I do, and what changed because of it?
• Highlight every adjective about yourself and replace it with a fact.
• Count the pages and the years: cut what does not help this job.
• Look for gaps of more than two months and add a line.
• Send the file to yourself and open it on your phone.

You can also paste your resume into the free review tool of FastCV AI: it flags clichés, missing action verbs and empty sections, and it never rewrites your file without you choosing to.