Employers reveal 10 prominent resume mistakes people make that get them instantly rejected

The red flags in resumes. 

Resumes are very important documents when applying for jobs. It helps recruiters gauge individuals and their capabilities to see if they would be a good fit for a certain position. Having a meticulously crafted resume can really help candidates stand out and secure their dream jobs. Sometimes candidates fail to put up a good resume which can severely affect their chances of getting hired. Reddit user u/justbrowinbr0 asked the community, "Employers of Reddit, what can someone put on a resume that sends it straight to the shredder?" Here are 10 of the most eye-opening answers that people had to share. 

1. Unedited and half-baked 

I received a resume last week that had notes on it “insert relevant skills here” and “maybe change font” “fill this space with buzz words” this was on his LinkedIn profile as well. If you can’t pay attention to the resume you send out I can’t trust you’ll pay attention to anything else. u/subtlelikeawreckball. During my senior year of college, I had a final paper for a biochemistry lab where our professor gave us a word template to use that had a bunch of placeholder text. He left our graded papers in a folder on his door, so when I went to pick up my paper I had to rifle through a bunch of other papers to find my paper. In one of the papers the student didn’t change the placeholder title, so the title of their biochemistry lab report was literally “TITLE (Word Style “BA_Title”). The title should accurately, clearly, and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the paper. The title must be brief and grammatically correct. The space above the title is provided for the Journal logo. Do NOT delete this space.” For context, my paper was titled “Purification and crystallization of human alcohol dehydrogenase.” I looked at their score to see if they got any points and they got a 20%. That paper was worth 60% of our grade too. u/Freedom_7

2. Bragging about his bench press weight 

One resume I got while managing a head shop included how much he could bench and the characters he played in high school theater. He was in his late mid-twenties. u/ethnj. Sounds like the resume of a guy who peaked in high school, now smokes a bunch of weed every day, and thought a head shop would be a good career move. u/robbietreehorn. I'd imagine managing a head shop you'd regularly run into the subset of stoners who are just cooked beyond belief. Reddit

3. Hilarious emergency contact information

Well, the guy made it through the resume but almost didn't make it through the onboarding paperwork. It was an entry-level position, the guy was 19 I think. Nice enough kid, low-life experience but that's how it all starts right? Emergency Contact info. Name - Mom. Relationship - Good. So like if we called your mom, and you were hurt, she'd care? u/Seattlepowderhound. My daughter got a birth control implant a year or so ago, and my sister took her to get it. She said she read back over the paperwork and where my daughter was supposed to sign her name that she gave her consent to the procedure, my daughter had simply written "yes". She is her father's child. u/FoofaFighters

4. No contact information 

I once received a resume in the mail that had no telephone number, address or email. He called a few days later to ask why he hadn't received any reply. I asked him to get a copy of his resume so we could review it together. I asked him to tell me the address we might have replied to; then the telephone number and finally the email. After a long pause, he said, "Aww, f***!" and hung up. u/chili555. I once submitted approximately 75 resumes without my phone number. I did include my parents' fax number (it was prompt in the MS Word template, so why not?) and eventually someone faxed me an interview offer. I'm not even that old! I could have put an email address on the resume, and just didn't? u/nataliejkd

5. Stated that he had climbed a mountain 

Okay, I was a writing tutor at the college level for 10 years. We also helped graduates of the university. (I swear I am not making this up.) A graduate came in, who had worked on teaching English in Japan, and had worked at other positions for a few years after getting his degree. The profile section at the head of his resume listed accomplishments, including, "I have climbed Mount Fuji fueled only by Quaaludes and caffeine." He was crestfallen when I told him that although I was duly impressed by this feat, he really, really needed to remove it. u/Foodoglove. Just take out the Quaaludes bit and he's sorted! u/thingsliveundermybed

6. Put up their dating profile 

This guy put a Tinder bio at the head of his resume. All his likes and dislikes, with a headshot of him holding an axe while looking sweaty. I do IT work. u/KhaosElement. I see where the misunderstanding was. The job posting was for IT and this guy thought he was qualified because he has that indescribable IT factor. u/TheTrub. Haha, the IT department head at the place I'm working always sends out emails introducing their new hires, including a picture. Usually, it's just a typical cropped family photo, but the last guy had a headshot that looked like it came out of an acting portfolio. u/thylac1ne

7. Special relationship with the devil 

When I was in high school I worked in a shoe store at the mall. We got a resume once for a sales job that had, under the "Other Interests" section, "Special relationship with the one they call Satan." Yes, really. I wanted to interview her, just to see what she'd actually say in person. My manager vetoed that, sadly. u/berecyntia. I have a friend who managed a shoe store. She received an application that said “I play ukulele, sort of” under the “skills” section. I think about it regularly and it was probably 10 years ago. u/keastis. 

8. Too much redacted information 

Had a dude turn in his application with black marker lines redacting all of his info. The only things left were his name, a phone number, and a note saying "We can discuss these details during my interview." He, in fact, did not get an interview. u/octopornopus. This reminds me of a lot of dating profiles. Long lists of the attributes they want in a potential partner then just "I'm an open book! Ask me anything you want to know." I will not, in fact, ask you anything. u/eggplantsrin. Dude totally was thinking, "I'm being so clever! I'll definitely get an interview!" u/ope_n_uffda

9. Long unemployed gap after graduation 

I was hiring for a lab technician job and this guy came highly recommended by someone in purchasing, I think it was. So, he got a shot at the interview. His resume wasn’t terrible, but there were gaps. He listed his high school graduation date and then his AA degree from the local CC was a good 10 years later. I mean, that’s ok, but there was no work experience listed for that time period either. Then came the interview with my lead technician and me. Walk the guy into a small meeting room and sit down. Before I can even introduce us, he pulls this laminated piece of paper out of his folio slams it down on the table and pushes it across the table and says, “So when do I start?” The document was a letter of recommendation from his CC physics teacher. A glowing assessment of the candidate which greatly conflicted with my assessment based on his behavior. He did not get the job. u/DLS3141

10. Misspelled their own name 

I'm sure a lot of us have made mistakes on our CVs. I once changed my email address but forgot to change .co.uk to .com and the interviewer asked me about it at the end of an interview for a job I did not get. The worst I've seen is from a girl named Clairfe. What an interesting name, is it Irish? My colleague showed me the application form handed in alongside the CV, where CLAIRE had managed to spell her own name right. u/Time-Cover-8159. Ugh, I misspelled a word on my resume once and it was something like qualifications and it had too many consonants and I didn't catch it. The interviewer spent half the interview playing "guess the misspelling" and made it the sole reason I didn't get the job. I even sent him a thank you in an attempt to make light of it and the as***** didn't let it go. u/sixfourtykilo