Despite all the books written on resume writing, free advice online and common sense wisdom, people are making the same mistakes again and again when they submit their resumes to a prospective employer.

Pleasant and professional format
A resume these days should be something that is pleasant to look at and read, although Times New Roman or Arial may be the “go to” fonts for most people, there are many other True Type fonts and formats out there that will make your profile stand out from the crowd.

Mobile number
Many people tends to forget to put their mobile number in their resume. Recruiters want to contact you immediately if they feel you are a suitable candidate, so not having a mobile number in the resume means a delay in your interview date.

Clear career history
Ensure your career history is in reverse chronological order, as the employer is usually most interested in what you have been doing recently, rather than long ago. Also treat your information like a funnel — more detail for recent experience, with less data as you go further back in your career.

Concise
2-3 pages of concise resume is perfect. However, if you are applying for a senior level executive, then with up to four pages is fine.

Mirrored to the needs of the reader
Remember you are writing the resume for someone else to read, not yourself. Mirror the keywords from the advertisement or job description into your resume summary to ensure these are picked up by the reader. Doing this presents you as the “solution” to the employer’s “problem”.

Career and personal achievements
Highlight your value to the reader by including key achievements you have had throughout your career. These could include special projects you have led, new systems or tools you developed or team members you have trained.

Easy to access file type
Again, you are writing your resume for someone else to use, so choose a format such as .pdf or Word that is easy to view.

No spelling or grammatical mistakes
Due to languages differences, many resumes have some spelling or grammatical issues. These become more apparent the higher you are pitching your career. Get a friend to have a proofread, it is easier for a third party to pick up some mistakes that you did not discover.

No crazy email addresses
mylovedpuppy@, Ilovepokemon2019@ and sexyfunky@ are examples of email addresses that will quickly turn off an employer. Purge these from your resume immediately.

No lies
Finally, be 110 per cent ethical in your resume. Whereas you may be tempted to embellish your career a little, this will come back to bite you at some stage in the future.