The last step in completing your resume is often one of the most overlooked. Proofing a resume takes just a little more time, patience, and concentration. But after writing, rewriting, critiquing, and perfecting the document, most people are tired of looking at their resume and skimp on proofreading. It’s tough for an interviewer to hear about your “attention to detail” as they sit and read a resume with typos, punctuation errors or grammatical mistakes!
However, there are some simple steps you can take to avoid costly mistakes:
Print it out and read it. Seems simple, but it’s an easy step to forget. Don’t rely on just reading your resume from your computer screen. Print it out, step away from your desk or workspace and read. Use a red pen to highlight any edits and go back and make change.
View at 200%. Take your word document and zoom in to 200%. Looking at it in a larger size presents the copy in a clearer format than by reading it at 100%. Do this on a Word document by going to View>Zoom>200%. One thing you can really notice is spacing issues or any extra characters that may have been overlooked.
Talk it out. When reading the resume, read it out loud. Slowly. This will force you to concentrate on not skimping over it or skipping words you are already used to seeing because you just completed writing the resume.
Take a break from reading the resume. The best way to proof your resume isn’t to read it right after you complete it. Instead, step away from it for at least a few hours. If possible, let it sit overnight. By the time most people complete their resume they are just happy to have it done. They glaze over the copy and rely on spell check to keep from doing the deep proofing work. Let it sit.
Read your resume from bottom to top. Go to the last page of your resume and read it from the bottom to the top. Looking at it this way can give you another view and provide clarity to each sentence and give one final proof for spelling, grammar, and spacing. You will be amazed how you can see things you may have missed reading in the traditional way.
Don’t let all the time you spent on perfecting your resume go to waste because you get lazy when it comes to proofing it! Taking the extra time will pay dividends in the long run. Your resume may not be a perfect fit for every job, but a perfect resume can help you be the right fit for your next job.
Need help with your resume? If you are not getting interviews and need assistance with writing your resume, work with a CareerToolboxUSA resume specialist for a resume that will get noticed by recruiters and get you interviews.
Beth Kelzer
Follow Beth at LinkedIn.com/in/marybkelzer
CareerToolboxUSA
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