A recruitment expert whose company claims to have helped hundreds of thousands of jobseekers find employment is sharing the biggest résumé mistakes that people make — and what they should do to fix them.
Los Angeles-based Jonathan Javier, a founder and the CEO of Wonsulting, shares some of his best job hunting Do’s and Don’ts on TikTok, where his most popular videos have been viewed millions of times.
Javier says that some of the worst mistakes people make on their résumés and CVs are bad formatting, employing over-used words and vague descriptions, and submitting anything that’s over one page long.
Job hunting! Jonathan Javier, a founder and the CEO of Wonsulting, shares some of his best job hunting Do’s and Don’ts on TikTok
Never, ever! He warns people against making their résumés longer than a single page
‘No recruiter will read this long of a résumé. Be sure to be clear and concise!’ he says
Javier’s company has helped people find jobs at major brands including Google, Facebook, PwC, Yelp, Snap, Deloitte, Microsoft, EA, and Cisco.
Wonsulting offers résumé reviews, interview prep, and assistance with job searches and LinkedIn strategies — and since launching the company in 2019, Javier has seen quite a lot of résumés, many of which include the same mistakes, over and over.
On TikTok, Javier serves up a few quick tidbits for free, running down some of the biggest and most frustrating mistakes people make — which may very well be costing them interviews.
First, Javier warns people not to leave a lot of white space on their résumés. White space should be filled in with more bullets, with applicants making the most of the page to sell themselves.
Bad formatting is another mistake: He has seen résumés that are entirely written in bold fond, or which are misaligned so that columns don’t line up evenly.
He also stresses that résumés should never be multiple pages long.
‘No recruiter will read this long of a résumé. Be sure to be clear and concise!’ he says, admonishing against anything over one page.
Résumés should also be kept simple and straight-forward. Any ‘extras’ like pictures, tables, or colorful subheads are bad choices.
As for language, picking the right words are important.
Action verbs are the best way to describe what you did at a job, but for jobs that have already ended, make sure all verbs are in the past tense.
Applicants should also avoid overly-used and clichéd words like ‘helped,’ ‘assisted,’ ‘worked,’ and ‘drove’ — and would be better off replacing them with words like ‘collaborated,’ ‘created,’ and ‘spearheaded.’
If you have a skills section, Javier says, avoid basic skills like ‘organization,’ ‘accuracy,’ and ‘adaptability,’ which don’t actually tell the employer anything about you.
Make sure to update! Action verbs are the best way to describe what you did at a job, but for jobs that have already ended, make sure all verbs are in the past tense
Hard skills: If you have a skills section, Javier says, avoid basic skills like ‘organization,’ ‘accuracy,’ and ‘adaptability,’ which don’t actually tell the employer anything about you
Nope! Résumés should also be kept simple and straight-forward. Any ‘extras’ like pictures, tables, or colorful subheads are bad choices
No way! In one TikTok video, Javier warned against using tricks to get a foot in the door, noting that recruiters have seem them all before
Instead, get specific with actual program and platform names, like Microsoft Excel, SocialFlow, Instagram, or SaleForce.
In one TikTok video, Javier warned against using tricks to get a foot in the door, noting that recruiters have seem them all before.
For example, some people think that a good trick for getting interviews is to copy the job description, paste it into résumé, and change the font color to white.
The idea is that the text will be hidden but the keywords will still get picked up by an applicant tracking system.
‘Recruiters aren’t dumb, so don’t do this,’ Javier said.
Finally, he advised all job-seekers against including their high school on their résumé, even if they’re still just in college.
Fill it! Javier warns people not to leave a lot of white space on their résumés. White space should be filled in with more bullets, with applicants making the most of the page to sell themselves
Yikes! Bad formatting is another mistake: He has seen résumés that are entirely written in bold fond, or which are misaligned so that columns don’t line up evenly
Wasteful: Don’t bother putting a summary or objective at the top
Avoid overly-used and clichéd words like ‘helped,’ ‘assisted,’ ‘worked,’ and ‘drove’ — and would be better off replacing them with words like ‘collaborated,’ ‘created,’ and ‘spearheaded’
So what should people do?
When editing a résumé, he says, make sure everything is properly formatted, concise, and utilizes the whole page — but only one page.
He also advises using a lot of percentages and numbers when possible, especially when they can be used to show growth.
He stresses highlighting any collaboration, like with senior management, leaders, or shareholders, which can impress recruiters.
Speaking to Forbes, he noted that there are plenty of other strategies outside of crafting a good CV that can help someone land a job.
In fact, he learned from his own job search right out of college that when competition for jobs is fierce, serious applicants have to do more to get an employer’s attention.
‘I would apply to 50 companies a week, and the outcome for each despite tailoring my résumé to the job description was the same: rejection,’ he said.
‘This is when I realized that traditional approaches wouldn’t work. Simply applying to roles when thousands of others were doing the same wasn’t going to cut it, especially with popular tech companies.’
Numbers: Javier advises using a lot of percentages and numbers when possible, especially when they can be used to show growth
Yes! He stresses highlighting any collaboration, like with senior management, leaders, or shareholders, which can impress recruiters
Trip: Use the STAR method for selling your qualifications: Refer to a Situation, a Task, an Action, and a Result
Social media can be a great tool. For example, he found success networking on LinkedIn by sending personalized invitations to people he wanted to connect with.
He would also post about events he planned to attend, with the hope that people that professionals he wanted to connect with would interact with his posts — and thus spread them to other people in the industry.
When he made a connection, he’d follow up with them regularly.
‘Every 3 months I’d update them with my progress regarding my career and would ask for an update regarding theirs,’ he said.
As for what to do if you land an interview, Javier has a few important tips to share.
First, be clear and concise with answers to questions, keeping responses between 45 seconds and a minute and 30 seconds.
Second, use the STAR method for selling your qualifications: Refer to a Situation, a Task, an Action, and a Result.
Finally, always be sure to ask questions at the end of an interview.
