7 Resume Mistakes That Scream 'Amateur' to Recruiters

Using Comic Sans font, including your photo, or listing 'Microsoft Word' as a skill? These rookie mistakes make recruiters cringe. Discover what immediately marks you as unprofessional and how to fix it.

Your resume gets, on average, exactly 6 seconds of attention from a recruiter before they make a snap judgment to either continue reading or move on to the next candidate in their massive pile. In those few crucial moments, certain mistakes can immediately signal "amateur" and get your application tossed aside—regardless of how qualified you might be for the role.

These aren't subtle formatting preferences or minor stylistic choices. These are glaring, universally recognized red flags that make experienced recruiters cringe and immediately question your professionalism, attention to detail, and overall fitness for a professional environment. The good news is that they are all completely and easily avoidable once you know what to look for.

The 7 Resume Mistakes That Scream Amateur

1 Using Unprofessional Fonts or Typos

Using fonts like Comic Sans, Papyrus, or other decorative typefaces makes your resume look unprofessional and juvenile. Even worse are typos or grammatical errors. These errors scream "lack of attention to detail," which is a critical flaw for almost any job. Stick to standard, clean fonts like Calibri, Arial, or Garamond, and proofread your resume at least three times.

2 Including Your Photo

Unless you are applying for a job as an actor or model, including a photo on your resume is a major mistake in most Western countries. It takes up valuable space that could be used for achievements and, more importantly, it can introduce unconscious bias into the hiring process. Let your skills and experience speak for themselves.

3 Listing Basic Software as "Skills"

Listing "Microsoft Word," "Email," or "Internet" in your skills section is a waste of space. These are considered basic competencies expected of any professional in the modern workplace. Use the skills section to highlight valuable, industry-specific software, programming languages, or advanced technical abilities (e.g., "Advanced Excel Functions (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP)," "Salesforce CRM," "Python").

4 A Vague, Generic Objective Statement

An objective statement like "Seeking a challenging position where I can grow and contribute to company success" is outdated and tells the recruiter nothing about you. Replace this with a powerful "Professional Summary" that is 2-3 sentences long and highlights your top qualifications, years of experience, and biggest strengths as they relate to the specific role you are applying for.

5 Personal Information Overload

Your resume should not include your marital status, age, religion, social security number, or your full street address. This information is irrelevant to your ability to do the job and can open the door to discrimination. All you need is your name, phone number, professional email address, city/state, and a link to your LinkedIn profile.

6 Duty-Focused Instead of Achievement-Focused

Don't just list what you were "responsible for." Show what you accomplished. Instead of "Managed social media accounts," write "Increased social media engagement by 45% and grew followers from 1,000 to 15,000 in six months." Use numbers, metrics, and strong action verbs to quantify your impact.

7 Inconsistent or Cluttered Formatting

Using mixed fonts, irregular spacing, inconsistent bullet points, or varying date formats makes your resume look sloppy and difficult to read. Maintain perfect consistency and use plenty of white space to create a clean, professional, and easily scannable document.

Key Takeaways

First impressions happen in seconds—make sure yours is professional
Focus on achievements and impact, not just job duties
Less is more—remove irrelevant personal information and basic skills
Consistency in formatting shows attention to detail
When in doubt, err on the side of conservative professionalism