When a hospitality management hiring manager looks through dozens of resumes for just one position, they quickly learn to spot common mistakes, and they may even begin to think of these mistakes as pet peeves.
They will either forgive those small errors and focus on the applicant’s qualifications instead, or they will hold those small mistakes to the same level of importance as they would the applicant’s work history.
When it comes to resumes for executive-level positions, however, any leniency you could hope for with small resume errors will very likely go out the window. A hiring manager’s pet peeves can be a serious deterrent against your executive resume, so here are a few common ones you should probably avoid as best you can:
Mistake #1 – Grammar and Spelling Errors
Grammar and spelling errors in a resume are very common red flags for hiring managers. The resume is their first impression of you, and if your resume doesn’t receive a thorough overview and the proper care, why should a hiring manager believe you’ll be careful and thorough with your work? Just one grammatical error in your resume could lead to a hiring manager passing it over, despite your outstanding, relevant experience in your field.
Mistake #2 – Too Much Information
It’s normal for people to struggle to find that sweet spot in their resume—it should have verifiable, accurate content, but it also needs to be readable and concise. Forgot the long paragraphs of your college essays—focus instead on adding more paragraph breaks or using bullet points. Hiring managers and recruiters read plenty of resumes each day, so they are on the lookout for content they can scan through easily.
Mistake #3 – No Contact Details
Remember to always list a phone number where you can easily be reached. The hiring game can be a swift one, so many hiring managers and recruiters prefer to connect with you initially via your phone. If your resume doesn’t include your phone number, you could be tossed aside for someone else.
Also, make sure you have an appropriate email address. Don’t use that old email address from college, especially if it includes anything other than your name and maybe a number. A good structure typically looks like this: FirstName.Lastname@email.com. Below, you’ll find a few examples of what would be considered a bad email address:
- Doglover1983@email.com
- ChiefsFanForever@email.com
- iNeedsAjob@email.com
- Mistake #4 – Lacks Results
A resume should spend its limited space highlighting your accomplishments, the results you’ve obtained, and the overall value you added to your previous employers. You also need to make sure you provide factual metrics for these accomplishments and results. A few examples of pertinent metrics include the following:
- Size of the teams you’ve led
- Sales volume
- Total money you saved your previous employers
- Total people you previously hired
- Results of past process-improvement
- Results of past revenue-generation initiatives or projects
Mistake #5 – File Name is Resume.pdf or Resume.doc
Imagine this—the hiring manager loves your resume and thinks you’re a great candidate. They know your first name was James, but they ended up misplacing your resume and have to print another one off. How do you expect them to ever find your resume if you called the file “Resume.pdf” or “Resume.doc?” With that in mind, you should include your name in the file’s title as well as the date you submitted it. For example, the file title could look like this: JohnDoeResumeMay30.doc.
If you are ready to find a better opportunity to move your career along, consider working with a hotel recruiter like JDI. Our team of hospitality recruiters are tapped into the most prominent hospitality jobs in the industry today. For more information about our recruiting services for candidates, please click here.
