10 Costly Job-Search Mistakes You Have to Stop Making

By Alison Green



If you're having trouble finding a job, it might be because you're sabotaging your chances without even realizing it.

Here are 10 common mistakes that you're possibly making in your job search:

1. Relying on outdated sources of job-searching advice. Job-search conventions have changed dramatically in the last 10 years, but many books and experts are still doling out outdated advice that can hurt your chances now. Ideally your advice should come from sources who have done a significant amount of hiring themselves--and recently, not a couple of decades ago.

2. Mainly listing job duties on your resume, rather than accomplishments. Job descriptions don't belong on your resume; accomplishments do. Resumes that stand out go beyond what duties you were responsible for and instead answer this question: What did you accomplish in this job that someone else might not have?

3. Feeling that your resume must be a complete account of everything you've ever done. Your resume is a marketing document intended to present you, your skills, and your experience in the strongest light. You're not required to include that short-term job from which you were fired, or the one outside your field, or your year in law school before you flunked out.

4. Sending your resume without a cover letter. If you're applying for jobs without including a compelling cover letter--customized to this specific opportunity--you're missing out on one of the most effective ways to grab an employer's attention. A cover letter is your opportunity to make a compelling case for yourself as a candidate, totally aside from what's in your resume. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't include one.

5. Annoying employers with too much follow-up. Job-seekers are sometimes advised that they should call employers to check on their application or to try to schedule an interview. But most employers don't respond well to this, viewing it as overly aggressive and annoying. After all, you're not the only person applying for the job; multiply your phone call by 300 applicants, and you'll see why employers are annoyed.

Mistakes 6 - 10 and complete US News article