Using a word cloud to beat ATS algorithms is an extremely popular “resume hack” these days. docx Bad Resume Tip 3: Beat applicant tracking systems by using a word cloud tool Recruiters and online application systems alike are more receptive to this format. You can add a few top skills and/or achievements at the top of the resume but still have room to validate them with detailed work experience. More and more resumes are moving in this direction. What you should do instead: If a traditional reverse-chronological resume format isn’t for you, try instead the hybrid resume format. “I’ve seen plenty of people that try to use a functional resume and I tell them, ‘You’re just shooting yourself in the foot,'” concluded the recruiter. Recruiters can’t assign proper value to skills or accomplishments without context, so if they bother at all with your functional resume, the first thing they’re going to do is dig deeper. Additionally, a functional resume format is highly unlikely to play nice with an ATS. If anything, a functional resume draws more attention to whatever it is you’re hiding because the format itself is a red flag. They know that you’re using a functional resume to try and hide shortcomings on your resume. Why it isn’t: “Recruiters hate the functional resume,” a veteran recruiter told Jobscan. Why it seems like a good idea: By dedicating your resume’s prime real estate to your most attractive skills and accomplishments, the recruiter might pay less attention to your unconventional work history or gaps in your resume. Bad Resume Tip 2: Use a Functional ResumeĪlong the same lines, the functional resume format is a popular option among career changers and people with gaps in their resume. This format designates two-thirds of the page to accomplishments and transferable skills before briefly listing the actual work history at the bottom. Remove short-term jobs from your resume that aren’t strengthening your candidacy, or label short-term jobs with “(Temporary),” “(Seasonal),” “(Contract),” “(Freelance)” etc. Instead, use conventional formatting and explain your gaps as honestly as you can in your cover letter. Be prepared to talk about it if you make it to an interview. They won’t be happy to learn about a potential problem after they’ve already invested the time to meet you.
Masking a gap or job hopping concern could, in theory, help get your foot in the door, but recruiters and hiring managers will uncover the truth at some point in the hiring process. It could also come back to bite you if there are any automated filters enabled that calculate and rate you based on experience levels.Įven worse, the year-only format could cause an ATS to fail to recognize the experience altogether, excluding it from search or ranking algorithms, especially if it’s in the “4 years, 2 months” format. This could turn your work history into a puzzle the recruiter doesn’t have time to piece together. The popular ATS iCIMS, for example, defaults year-only dates to January 1st, so the job you labeled “2017-2017” becomes “January 1, 2017-January 1, 2017.” The job you worked between November 2016 and December 2017 but labeled as “2016-2017” becomes “January 1, 2016-January 1, 2017.” Two, the applicant tracking system (ATS) that parses your resume into a searchable candidate profile could fail to make sense of your formatting, creating even bigger problems.
Why it isn’t: One, a recruiter will eventually catch on and dock you for being sneaky. By disguising these gaps and bumps in the road with formatting tricks, you might fool the recruiter and buy enough time to get them hooked on your skillset. Instead of hearing you out, they could opt to move on to other candidates. Why it seems like a good idea: Recruiters could see a gap in your resume or a short-lived job as a major red flag. Microsoft – 4 years, 2 months) to hide gaps or protect against age discrimination. Similarly, for a single short-term position, “October 2016-January 2017” becomes “2016-2017.”Īlternatively, some advise to only list the duration of employment (e.g. For example, a January-to-September gap like this: Some people might advise to cover up gaps in your experience or short-lived jobs by reformatting the dates on your resume. Most resume tip resources are primarily made up of common sense and tried-and-true methods, but there are a few pieces of advice out there that could hurt more than they help. Use caution when it comes to these 5 resume tips: Bad Resume Tip 1: Hide gaps or short-term gigs in your resume by removing exact dates from your experience