The 10 Resume Mistakes Costing You Interviews—And How to Fix Them

I’ve reviewed thousands of resumes from XGooglers, US Veterans, students, career changers, MIT alumni, and more. Some candidates land interviews immediately, while others send out hundreds of applications with no response.

If you’re applying and not getting at least 5%-20% recruiter response rates, your resume or job targeting needs work. Below are the 10 most common resume mistakes I see—and how to fix them.

1. Poor Formatting Makes Your Resume Hard to Read

A resume needs to be easy to scan in seconds. I’ve seen resumes where almost every word is bold, making it exhausting to read. If your formatting is inconsistent—random bolding, crowded text, or distracting fonts—recruiters won’t try to untangle it.

Fix It:

• Use a simple, clean layout with clear sections.

• Stick to readable fonts like Arial or Calibri.

• Avoid excessive bolding, italics, and underlining.

2. Your Resume Doesn’t Highlight the Right Experience

A backend engineer I helped had strong data pipeline experience, but her resume lacked mention of API design, system architecture, or performance optimization. Because of this, recruiters didn’t see her as a backend engineer.

Fix It:

• Align your bullets with the skills required in the job description.

• Make sure key technologies and skills relevant to the role are featured.

• Show real-world impact, not just responsibilities.

3. Your Resume Doesn’t Have a Clear Job Target

Another candidate had experience in both Data Science and Backend Engineering but listed them equally, making it unclear which role he was targeting. This confused recruiters and hurt his chances.

Fix It:

• Choose one clear career focus. If you’re applying to multiple types of roles, create separate versions of your resume.

• Adjust your summary and bullet points to align with the specific job.

4. Poorly Grouped Experience Makes It Look Like Job-Hopping

One candidate listed an internship, junior role, and senior role separately, making it look like he had three different jobs at the same company. Worse, his senior experience was buried under early roles.

Fix It:

• Combine related roles under one company to show progression.

• Focus more space on senior roles, where impact is strongest.

This is especially important for contractors who have worked multiple short-term roles—group them properly so hiring managers don’t see them as a series of disconnected jobs.

5. Too Much Industry Jargon

A manufacturing engineer transitioning to software had a resume filled with manufacturing-specific terms that software recruiters didn’t understand. This made it harder for them to recognize his transferable skills.

Fix It:

• Use industry-relevant language for the job you’re applying for.

• Remove jargon that won’t be familiar to hiring managers in your target field.

• Keep bullet points clear and results-driven.

6. Your Resume Is Full of Buzzwords but Lacks Substance

If your friend could copy and paste your resume into their own, it’s too vague. I see phrases like “Results-driven leader with a passion for innovation”, but no actual proof.

Fix It:

• Replace generic buzzwords with specific achievements.

• Every bullet point should show what you did, how you did it, and the impact it had.

For example:

❌ “Improved system performance.”

✅ “Optimized backend queries, reducing system latency by 40%.”

7. Too Much Leadership, Not Enough Hands-On Work

Many senior ICs fill their resumes with strategy, mentorship, and leadership buzzwords but fail to showcase what they actually built, fixed, or improved. This makes hiring managers doubt whether they can still do hands-on work.

Fix It:

• Balance leadership responsibilities with technical or functional contributions.

• Show specific impact in addition to management experience.

8. Your Resume Sounds Too Junior

The most common mistake? Passive language.

❌ “Was responsible for feature development.”

✅ “Led the design and implementation of a feature used by 500K+ users, reducing downtime by 30%.”

Fix It:

• Use action verbs like designed, implemented, optimized, delivered.

• Show measurable impact with metrics where possible.

9. Your Job Title Doesn’t Match the Work You Did

If your company gave you a unique or creative job title, recruiters may not understand what you actually did.

For example, if your title was “Software Alchemist”, but you were actually a Machine Learning Engineer, hiring managers may pass on your resume.

Fix It:

• Use industry-standard job titles so recruiters can quickly understand your experience.

• If needed, clarify the title in parentheses, like:

Software Alchemist (Machine Learning Engineer)

10. Your Resume Emphasizes the Wrong Things

A resume typically includes four key elements: industry, role, technology, and skills. If they don’t align with your target job, recruiters won’t see you as a fit.

I worked with an HR professional transitioning into data analytics. His resume was loaded with HR-related tasks. We reframed it to focus on data-driven problem-solving, which immediately improved his chances.

Fix It:

• Highlight experience that aligns with your target role.

• De-emphasize unrelated experience by summarizing instead of listing details.

• Make sure your resume tells a clear career story.

How to Know If Your Resume Is Working

If your recruiter response rate is below 5%-20%, something is off.

✅ Fix your resume

✅ Adjust your job targeting

✅ Track your response rate and make improvements

I’ll be reviewing resumes live in my free webinar. Want real-time feedback?

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