Resume Evaluation Checklist – Tips to Handle Resume Criticism

The first step in landing your dream job is creating a solid resume that reveals your skills and job expertise. A resume is essentially a marketing tool that helps the recruiter understand what you can offer to the company. So, resume evaluation plays a vital role. Research suggests recruiting managers take an average of 6 seconds to look at a resume and make up their mind. Six seconds is all you have to make an impression on the recruiter. Hence, it is imperative that create a job-specific resume that targets your prospective employer in a very specific way. It is also important to understand what the recruiter expects to see you in your resume. Providing irrelevant information will result in the outright rejection of your resume. Below is a Resume Evaluation Checklist that details the list of things that you need to keep in mind while creating our resume.

Resume Criticism – What is it?

Disapproving your resume or the information provided in it is referred to as resume criticism. A recruiting manager can criticize and disapprove your resume for many reasons. If the recruiting manager feels that you have not provided authentic information or if it does not look professional or if your qualifications do not meet the job criteria, he will outright disapprove your resume. Providing incomplete information in your resume will also create a sense of uncertainty in the mind of the recruiting manager. As a result, there is a high chance that the recruiter might disapprove your resume. Some of the other reasons that lead to resume criticism are as follows:

1. Prevalence of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes
2. Visually unappealing appearance of the resume.
3. If the resume looks unprofessional or like a template
4. Absence of a solid job summary
5. Lack of references from credible sources

Why and How to Critique / Resume Evaluation

It is important to self-critique your resume (Resume Evaluation) to understand the areas where you lack and improve them. No matter how skilled you are, if your resume does not reveal that, you might not be called in for an interview. You can also seek out the help of resume experts to critique your resume. Based on their feedback, you can mack appropriate changes in your resume and increase the chances of getting hired.

Below are some of the red flags that will lead to the rejection of your resume and how to evaluate your resume to improve it.

1). Solid Job Summary

This is the first thing that recruiting managers look at in your resume. Your job summary should express your passion for the job. It should help the recruiter understand what made you take up the career and your career vision. The job summary should be intriguing enough to encourage the recruiter to review your job experience and skills.

2). Labeling and Formatting Sections Clearly

The formation of the sections of the resume should have a logical flow. Most important information such as job experience and skills should come at the top. While reading your resume, if the recruiter at any point feels that the information you have provided is irrelevant, he would not skip the section or continue reading. He will outright reject the resume.

3). Strong References

Most candidates fail to understand the importance of references and recommendations on the evaluation of your resume. Having references from trustable sources will give a sense of credibility to your resume. It will remove any uncertainties the recruiting manager might have regarding the authenticity of the information you have provided in your resume. So, reach out to your former, employers, supervisors, and colleagues for recommending you.

4). Contact Details

Dedicate a separate section to list your contact information. Provide multiple means for the recruiter to contact you. If the recruiter is unable to contact you at your primary number, he would not take the time to call you back. So, providing an alternate contact number and email address will make it easier for the recruiter to contact you.

5). Grammatical Errors and Typos

Proofread your resume to make sure that it is free from grammatical errors and typos. Grammatical errors and typos will make your resume look unprofessional and it does not sit well with the recruiters. Again, your resume will be rejected. So, make sure that it is grammatically sound and free from spelling mistakes.

Resume Evaluation Checklist – Top 25 Points to Evaluate

1). Does the resume look professional?
2). Does the resume look visually appealing with legible font size and ample space between words?
3). Does the resume look intriguing enough to encourage the recruiter to read?
4). Does the resume have your address of residence, personal contact number, and alternative contact number?
5). Does the resume have your work experience and educational qualifications in reverse chronological order?
6). Does the resume have a clear and impressive career summary?
7). Is the resume job-specific instead of being generic?
8). Is the resume free from grammatical errors and spelling mistakes?
9). Does the resume have your LinkedIn username and profile URL?
10). Is the content written in a formal language without using any superlative terms?
11). Does the resume specify your career gap (if any) and the reason behind it?
12). Does the resume highlight your unique skill set, special certifications, and career achievements?
13). Does the resume have your job responsibilities and duties at your current place of work?
14). Do sentences explaining your responsibilities start with actionable verbs?
15). Is the content broken into short paragraphs to make it readable?
16). Is important information listed in bulletin points to be grasped easily?
17). Does your resume have all the sections labeled correctly?
18). Is the order of the sections in logical flow?
19). Does the resume include keywords and technical terms to show your expertise?
20). Is the resume short, concise, and to the point?
21). Is the information provided in the resume transparent and honest?
22). Does the resume have a separate section dedicated to freelance work and other activities that enhance your career expertise?
23). Does the resume have a sold career summary?
24). Are the margins even on all sides of the page?
25). If there is more than one page, does the page break formatted correctly and does each page have a heading?

Conclusion

Do not create a single resume for all job applications. Your resume should be tailored to the company you are applying to. Leave out irrelevant achievements and skills that do not add value to the job designation you are applying to. Once you have created your resume, cross-check it with our checklist to ensure that you have not missed out on any important detail.