Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Everyone makes mistakes in life — many errors are no big deal and go unnoticed by everyone else. Common mistakes in a job search, however, can lead to another candidate getting your dream job, a setback in moving up the ladder in your career or more time spent in the unemployment line. Recognize these five errors that job seekers make and learn how to correct them.

Lack of Proofreading

Assembling your resume is an exact science during your job search. You update your career summary, put your bullet points together and make sure your employment dates match your records. Proofreading for typing errors is a must. A hiring manager or recruiter who sees typos instantly has a perception that you lack attention to detail and may toss your resume in the discard pile.

Look over your resume after you finish it, then take a break for 10 minutes. Print out the document, and scan it again. After doing this, read your resume out loud so you hear each word. Lastly, have a friend look at your copy to see if another party sees any typos or grammatical errors. Another set of eyes could save your entire job search.

Meaningless Words

Replace empty words in your resume with power words. Instead of descriptive terms such as "results oriented," "dedicated" or "team player," start your sentences with action verbs. Good choices include "managed," "trained," "influenced," "designed" or "originated." Other verbs that show what you did in previous jobs include "allocated," "negotiated," "solved," "purchased" and "optimized."

Filler

Your interview in a job search is precious — not a second should be wasted during this face time. Avoid filler words such as "like," "um," "uh" and "you know." Practice and rehearse your answers ahead of time so you get in the habit of speaking without using extra words. Record your rehearsals, and play them back to examine what you might have done wrong.

Too Quiet

If you're an introvert, you may have trouble coming up with topics of conversation during an interview. It's okay to pause and think, but you can't do that for too long or your interviewer may see you as lacking an informative answer. Write down several common interview questions that come up in a job search, and practice your responses.

Another good tactic is to research the employer's website, LinkedIn connections, mission statement and press releases. Getting to know the company helps create common ground to start a conversation.

Not Following Up

After the interview concludes, don't leave without asking one final question. Turn to the hiring manager and ask about the next possible step to gauge how you might have done in the interview. Try something like, "Based on my background, qualifications, skills and experience, how well do I fit with this position?" You can also ask, "Do you need anything else from me before you make a hiring decision?" The hiring manager at least owes you an honest response at this point.

Common mistakes don't have to doom your chances of landing a perfect position during your job search. Once you correct these errors, you should see more job offers coming your way.

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