Three Mistakes You Can Catch by Printing Your Resume

Submitting a professional resume and cover letter serves as a job hunter's first point of contact with a hiring manager. Unfortunately, many would-be recruits submit documents full of errors, which result in lost opportunities for employment. Printing professional documents is one of the easiest ways to catch resume mistakes, as errors often come to light when sitting on a printed page. The following resume mistakes factor among the easiest to catch on printed CVs.

In spite of the presence of spellcheck functions in nearly every modern word processor, countless job candidates submit resumes with spelling errors. These catastrophic resume mistakes suggest that a candidate does not carefully review his work. While spelling challenges some individuals, printing out a resume and cover letter often highlights words that do not look quite right. Beyond misspelled words, candidates also need to keep a close eye on their use of homophones.

In addition to spelling problems, poor design and layout also plague some job applicants. While having a lackluster design is a forgivable error, layouts that make it difficult to find important information can send the resume straight to the recycling bin. Printing out a resume makes it easier to view the document's layout with fresh eyes, in turn making it easier for job applicants to pinpoint problems that need addressing. It may also help to compare the printed document to other resume examples, as this can help candidates to identify weaknesses.

After spending hours laboring over professional documents, small resume mistakes and problems become harder to spot. Job hunters should consider asking a trusted peer or friend to take a look at a printed copy of their resume. Fresh perspectives go a long way in resume proofreading, particularly since no two individuals have exactly the same writing style. Of course, it is important to choose proofreaders carefully, as some peers may not possess the grammar chops necessary to catch problematic errors.

Finally, printed resumes show where the document contains too many elements. Looking at a resume on a computer screen doesn't allow the reader to fully comprehend how the document appears to someone else. While a boring resume rarely makes it past the desk of a recruiter, adding attention-grabbing graphics and unnecessary design elements is also a poor decision. By printing the document, job applicants avoid these costly resume mistakes and pinpoint where editing needs to occur.

Sending out a poorly executed resume makes a job candidate look amateurish, which does not bode well for receiving a job offer. Resume proofreading helps eliminate these costly mistakes, and printing out the document is simply another way to ensure not a single problem goes unnoticed. By printing out the file and carefully noting the resume mistakes, applicants help maximize their chances at receiving a job interview.

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