The 3 Deadliest Resume Mistakes

+ How To Avoid Them

I've put together a quick guide for you on The 3 Deadliest Resume Mistakes + how to avoid them and land your next leadership role quickly.

Let me show you how it works.

To break through your career ceiling with a standout 6-figure resume, there are three things you need to focus on: 

Number one, your unique value proposition,

Number two, your pitch and

Number three, your 6-figure resume.

Most professionals focus only on their resume, with no real understanding of what makes them different/unique…

...unfortunately, not knowing this keeps them stuck in their job search and career because they sound like everyone else!

To get you unstuck, I’m going to talk you through the 3 deadliest resume mistakes and how you can avoid them... 

These are the mistakes WHY

• You are ignored for interviews for 100K+ roles (even though you have the required skills and experience)
• You end up in roles where you are underutilised, underpaid and underappreciated…
• And you basically stay stuck, not reaching your full potential because you don’t get the opportunity to show what you’re truly capable of!

PURPOSE OF YOUR RESUME.

So first of all, let’s take a step back and look at the purpose of your resume…

The purpose of your resume is to get you the interview, right?

And if you don’t get interviews, your resume isn’t doing its job.

Now, if you think about your interview invites like water running through a tap.

You're interview-invites right now are probably in one of five positions.

#1: stuck. You’re applying for roles but you’re not getting any interviews.

#2: the tap's rusty, you rarely get an interview and when you do, the job is far from ideal or it’s at exactly at the same level you’re currently at and you want to move up.

#3: trickle, you've had some interviews but not at all what you were expecting

#4: real interview flow, when you decide to look for a new job, 4 out of 5 applications turn into an interview. Simple as that.

#5: A flood, headhunters are consistently approaching you for amazing job opportunities, so you grow your career with ease

So, I want you to think about these five levels right now and think about where you’re at.

Is it stuck, rusty, a trickle, a flow or a flood?

It looks like there are five, but really there are only two.

There's either you don't have enough interviews to get the job you want,

Or there's flow and flood and those people grow their career consistently.

So, the only way to grow your career is to be in flow or flood.

Let’s zoom in on how you can achieve this right now.

HERE ARE THE THREE DEADLIEST RESUME MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE (AND WHY IT’S A DOWNWARDS SPIRAL)

MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: HAVING AN ORDINARY AND OLD-STYLE RESUME. 

Traditionally, your resume looked like this:

• Career objective (same as everyone else)
• List of generic skills (ex. great writing skills)
• List of tasks
• List of all the companies you’ve worked at
• etc…
• A complete representation of your career history

Now, the job market has changed, and like it or not, the way you need to write your resume to stand out has changed with it.

It is no longer enough to simply “wing it” and hopefully get an interview because you are just that good.

The reason why this doesn't work anymore?

Because there are hundreds of others applying for the same job as you that believe exactly the same.

MISTAKE NUMBER TWO: UNDERSELLING YOURSELF.

Now, here’s an interesting fact for you:

97% of the resumes I see undersell the candidate for that job, and most professionals think their resume is ok, but actually, it’s holding them back.

And if you can’t SELL yourself on your resume, you’ll UNDERSELL yourself, and this will impact

• the true impact you can make,
• how challenged and fulfilled you feel with the responsibilities you have
• and the salary you’ll receive.

So, let’s see how you can make the perfect first impression with your resume so they pick up the phone and invite you for an interview.

The best way to explain this is by this analogy:

Imagine the trailer of your favourite movie – in just 90-seconds, you have a clear understanding of the type of movie, the genre, the quality of actors etc…

And based on this 90-second trailer, you make the decision to buy a ticket and to go and see the movie…

I want you to do the same with your resume, you need to create a document that in a few seconds, the reader can make up their mind and give you a call to invite you for an interview.

Because it’s engaging

Compelling and

It’s evoking their curiosity

So how do you get there? By creating a resume that’s:

• Highlights WHAT makes you different and WHY they should hire you
• Clear & Concise resume (not text-heavy)
• Compelling content that excites and converts into an interview. (not confusing)
• Selling your capability and talents (Not just a description)
• Positions you for the right type of roles (not everything)

MISTAKE NUMBER THREE: STUCK AS THE DOER

The last mistake I see regularly is that professionals focus too much on the delivery part of their career rather than the strategic part.

This keeps them stuck in an “individual contributor’s role” instead of becoming a sought-after leader.

Here’s the thing, if you want to break your career ceiling and want to shift from being a task manager to a leader then you must make a shift in your resume.

A lot of people are so capable, experts in their field and have a great reputation for getting shit done but they need to have a sceptical eye when it comes to their resume and ask themself “is my resume communicating that strategic view”.  

If you can't make that apparent on your resume and you can't articulate that, you won't be able to demonstrate that in an interview or even later on in a performance review and that is what you want if you want to create a leadership brand. 

3 STEP PROVEN STRATEGY TO AVOID THESE MISTAKES

So, if you’re making any, all or some of the 3 mistakes, you’re not standing out and

you are getting overlooked…

you’re not getting the interviews you want…

you keep on getting countless rejections…

If that's what's happening right now, then you end up at this bad place I call “the job-search-limbo-zone” your career is stuck and actually going backwards because nothing is happening.

That's what we don't want.

But, on the flip side, when you escape this downwards spiral,

• You’ll get interviews when we apply.
• You’ll stand out from the crowd.
• And you’ll attract jobs that perfectly match what you are looking for.

What that means is instead of being stuck and going backwards, you’ll land the 6-figure role where you can make an impact, feel fulfilled and where you get paid what you are worth. 

So that’s what we want to achieve.

Let's get to work.

TO BUILD OUT THIS PROCESS, WE'RE GOING TO FOCUS ON THREE CORE THINGS.

Number 1: Unique Value Proposition.

You want to get crystal clear on your unique value proposition, the way you sell ourselves.

Most people don’t know what makes them unique. What makes them special, what they have to offer, and they struggle to communicate WHY someone should hire them.

And I say this because if I simply see how people present themselves on their resume, they look pretty much the same as all the other candidates.

So, if you don’t stand out, you’ll fade away, you’ll get passed over and I can guarantee you, your resume will end up on the no pile… 

So, here’s how you get clear on your UVP

First, you need to unpack your career. This is looking at your career history and identifying what stood out and recognising the hidden themes so you can understand what makes you, YOU.

Secondly, you have to identify your genius zone. Now your genius zone is a mixture of your strengths, skills and talents.

And lastly, when you have unpacked your career and identified your genius zone, you’ll be able to write your pitch.

Number 2: Your Pitch.

Your pitch is super important. This is going to be the foundation of how you position yourself on your resume, your personal brand. (more about this below or click here to see how you can create yours)

Number 3: The Psychological Triggers Behind A Standout Resume.

Lastly, the structure of your resume. There are 5-key non-negotiable elements you need in order to make your resume irresistible.

Believe me, I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of resumes and analysed in detail WHY some worked, and others didn’t. THIS is what made the difference.

DOWNLOAD THE 6-FIGURE RESUME TEMPLATE

1. So first of all, you have your career statement.

Now your career statement is your pitch. It’s a promise to a company about what problem you can solve for them. (click here to see how you can create yours)

2. Next, we have your key skills. These are the skills you need to deliver on your promise

3. Next, you have your key achievements. This is the proof you master the skills you need to deliver on your promise.

Can you understand how you’re creating a cohesive structure or flow? (Instead of a disjoined resume that’s all over the place)

This is where the magic happens.

4. Next we have your career history, which is basically supporting evidence of everything you just claimed.

5. And lastly, you have others, which is a list of extra software you know, your education or other languages you speak. 

This is a simple structure, but this framework is so powerful because it aligns all your skills, achievements and experience in an easy way for anyone to truly understand what you can bring to the table.

Want more? 

Let me take all the trial and error out of writing a job-winning resume… and get The 6-Figure Resume Template!