All right, so, when I was applying to my first full-time job, I sent out a total of 367 cold emails, received 21 first round interviews, and ended up with five full-time job offers, but what those numbers do not show is that most of those interviews only came after I started doing two things: first, networking my butt off with alumni, recruiters, and hiring managers, and, second, editing my resume based on their feedback.

So, in this video, I'll first share the five biggest resume mistakes I made back in the day, then go through the changes that landed me all those first round interviews.

Hi, friends, welcome back to my channel. If you're new here, my name is Jeff. Come for the career tips and stay for the painfully accurate job search memes.

Mistake number one, putting the education section above the work experience section.

While I am still extremely proud of my GPA and SAT score, recruiters and hiring managers know that any sort of work experience, including internships and extracurricular activities translate much better to on the job performance, and this is because, when written correctly, the bullet points on your resume help them visualize your ability to do the job they're hiring for.

Let's imagine a hiring manager starts to scan down my "bad resume." She sees my GPA, the classes that I took, my high school honor roll, realizes none of that is relevant, she just wasted 30 seconds of her life, and she moves on to the next applicant.

Now, imagine she opens up a resume and sees, immediately, I've worked on finance transformation and supply chain projects. She thinks, "Okay, this candidate has some industry knowledge and can probably present to clients.

He actually might be a good fit for this project we're currently short staffed on," and she reads on.

Even if I only had my first summer internship available, she would know at least I have worked in a finance department before, and I have basic Excel skills.

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but I've linked the PDF versions of the two resumes for free, down below.

So, feel free to reference them when updating your own resume.

Mistake number two, not showing impact. If you take a quick look at my original KPMG example, assisted with project governance, presented to a banking client, helped with the project research.

I use all these fancy overcomplicated words, but you still don't know the implication of those actions. Compared this with the updated version of the same bullet point.

Even though I start off, basically, the same way, you can clearly see the result of my contributions— the banking client successfully opened a branch in the local market.

This is the difference between just saying fluffy buzzwords and actually showing impact.

I can't stress this enough, and, hey, don't just take my word for it. Big name career coaches like Austin Belcak and Adam Broda reiterate this all the time.

You need to communicate what you accomplished, and, even, Ali Abdaal, someone we don't normally associate with being professional or businessy, right?

He says... - So this is a bunch of buzzwords and (bleep) that is not substantiated by anything at all.

- And at this point, many of you might fall into the trap of mistake number three, failing to include meaningful metrics, and the reason I know is from all the comments in my original resume video.

This one sums up what many of you might be thinking.

How do you show metrics when you're new or you don't have impressive metrics from your internship, or this one, how do I quantify work achievements?

I'm at a startup where data points are not established yet. I'm not sure how to state metrics while staying authentic, and the short answer is that recruiters and hiring managers care much more about the effort you put into quantifying your impact rather than the actual numbers themselves.

For example, when I applied to my first ever internship, I literally wrote "my presentation scored 23% higher than the class average." That seems insignificant, right?

Yes, but it also shows I knew the success metric of the presentation, the score, and I took the extra step to benchmark my performance to that of my peers.

Pro tip, a foolproof way to quantify your impact is to keep asking yourself, so what?

Taking my SAT tutoring experience as an example, I might have started off with, "Taught SAT during my summer break in college." Okay, so what?

The average increase in my student's SAT scores was 280 points.

So what? Seven out of the eight seniors got accepted into their first choice colleges. Impact, to really drive this point home because it's so important, here's an extreme example.

It's much better to write "delivered on average nine coffees a day "with 100% accuracy on all orders for three months," than, "I fetched coffee for senior associates during my summer internship." Mistake number four is a tough one for me to admit because I remember being very defensive when I got this feedback, and that is not tailoring my resume for each job application.

I mean, back then, I applied to over 50 jobs and I was lazy.

I wasn't going to create 50 versions of the same resume, but the present, more mature me will tell you two things.

First, the workload isn't that bad if you focus your attention on three to five roles, which you should be doing anyways because the 'apply it to everything' approach doesn't work well in today's job market.

So, why not invest more time in the quality of your application rather than the quantity?

Second, for a similar set of roles, you can copy and paste those job descriptions into a word cloud generator to easily identify relevant skills the recruiter might be looking for and add those keywords into your resume.

This is a very easy way to tailor your resume for different roles, and I go through step-by-step instructions in my original resume video.

Pro tip, this is the biggest difference between your LinkedIn profile and your resume. Your LinkedIn should give a more general overview of who you are professionally and it shouldn't change all that much, whereas your resume should be more hyper-targeted.

for each application. Mistake number five is overlooking the small things, and to show you what I mean, take a look at this part of my original resume.

Pause the video and see if you can spot the mistake. These two hyphens are formatted differently. Did you notice?

Some of you might already be rolling your eyes right now, but believe me when I tell you first impressions matter, and while perfect formatting won't guarantee you the interview, easily avoidable errors like this can be a red flag.

Again, don't just take my word for it or the word of those corporate LinkedIn career gurus.

Here's Ali Abdaal again. - A bunch of spelling and grammar issues there.

Like, this is really obvious stuff. - So, whether you're applying for a role in a traditional corporation or a fun and chill startup, small things matter.

That's what he said. Nope, that was inappropriate. Sorry about that. A simple way to catch these mistakes is to send your resume to 10 people you know and get their feedback, or at the very least, use a tool like Grammarly or even autocorrect in Google Docs.

All right, once you've updated that resume, make sure to check out this video on how to write an effective cover letter to maximize your chances for a first round interview.

5 Resume Mistakes You MUST Avoid (with real examples)!

🌟 This is the channel I wish I could have subscribed when I first entered the workforce

I'm Jeff, a full time Product Marketer. In my spare time I like to tinker with tools and create systems that help me get things done faster - or as one of my friends puts it: "Get better at being lazy" 😏

I make videos on practical career and productivity tips without all the "fluff"

So if you're a college student, working professional, or super ambitious high schooler, make sure to subscribe to my channel 💡


Jeff Su

The video outlines five common resume mistakes: prioritizing education over work experience, failing to demonstrate impact with metrics, neglecting to tailor the resume for each application, and overlooking minor formatting errors.

To improve a resume, the video advises quantifying accomplishments, showcasing results, and customizing the resume to align with specific job requirements by using keywords from the job description.

Correcting these mistakes can significantly increase the chances of securing first-round interviews.

The speaker shares their experience of sending out **367 cold emails, receiving 21 first-round interviews, and securing five full-time job offers**. However, they emphasize that these results only came after networking and tailoring their resume based on feedback.

🏫 Mistake #1: Prioritizing Education Over Experience

A common mistake is placing the education section above work experience. Recruiters value work experience, including internships, because they **demonstrate on-the-job skills** more effectively. A hiring manager might lose interest if they see irrelevant academic details first.

The speaker illustrates this with an example: a hiring manager is more likely to be interested in a candidate who has worked on finance transformation and supply chain projects than someone whose resume highlights GPA and high school achievements. **Even a summer internship shows basic Excel skills and experience in a finance department**.

Simply listing responsibilities using "fluffy buzzwords" isn't enough. It's crucial to **demonstrate the results of your actions**. For example, instead of saying "assisted with project governance," show the impact: "the banking client successfully opened a branch in the local market."

📊 Mistake #3: Omitting Meaningful Metrics

Many struggle with quantifying achievements, especially when new or working in environments without established data. Recruiters value the **effort to quantify impact, not just the numbers themselves**. Even seemingly small metrics, like a presentation scoring 23% higher than the class average, show initiative.

A helpful technique is to keep asking "so what?" to uncover the deeper impact of your actions. For instance, tutoring SAT students and increasing their scores by 280 points is good, but **the real impact is that seven out of eight seniors got into their first-choice colleges**.

🎯 Mistake #4: Neglecting to Tailor Your Resume

It's essential to tailor your resume for each job application. Focus on a few roles and invest time in creating quality applications. Use a word cloud generator to identify relevant skills from job descriptions and **incorporate those keywords into your resume**.

Your LinkedIn profile should provide a general overview, while your resume should be hyper-targeted for each specific role. **This targeted approach significantly increases your chances of getting noticed**.

🔎 Mistake #5: Overlooking Small Details

Small formatting errors, like inconsistent hyphens, can be red flags. First impressions matter, and easily avoidable mistakes can hurt your chances. **Even seemingly minor spelling and grammar issues can detract from your application**.

Get feedback from others or use tools like Grammarly to catch these mistakes. Whether applying to a traditional corporation or a startup, attention to detail is crucial. **Perfect formatting won't guarantee an interview, but easily avoidable errors can prevent one**.

Introduction to resume mistakes and the importance of networking and resume editing.

The video will cover five resume mistakes and how to fix them to get more interviews.

The speaker shares their experience of sending 367 cold emails and getting 21 interviews after networking and editing their resume.

Mistake 1: Prioritizing education over work experience.

Work experience, including internships, is more relevant to employers than GPA or SAT scores.

Highlighting work experience first shows relevant industry knowledge and skills.

Resume templates are available in the description.

Mistake 2: Failing to demonstrate impact.

Simply listing responsibilities without showing the results of those actions is ineffective.

The updated resume version shows the results of contributions, demonstrating impact.

It's important to quantify accomplishments, even without impressive numbers.

Recruiters value the effort to quantify impact, not just the numbers themselves.

Quantifying impact can be achieved by asking 'so what?' to demonstrate the significance of achievements.

Providing a detailed example of how to phrase the impact of delivering coffee.

Mistake 4: Not tailoring the resume for each job application.

It's better to focus on a few roles and tailor the resume accordingly.

Use a word cloud generator to identify relevant skills from job descriptions and add those keywords to the resume.

LinkedIn profiles should be general, while resumes should be hyper-targeted.

Formatting errors and typos can create a negative first impression.

Even small errors like inconsistent hyphens can be a red flag.

Get feedback from others or use tools like Grammarly to catch mistakes.

Watch the video on how to write an effective cover letter.

5 Resume Mistakes You MUST Avoid (with real examples)!

5 Resume Mistakes You MUST Avoid (with real examples)!

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