How to Proofread Your Resume

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How to Proofread Your Resume

Finding a job is a painstaking process. Browsing through the vacancies, checking out the requirements to figure out if you’re a suitable candidate. And if you are, you start to prepare mentally for the first interview. But wait, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? You won’t get a call without a resume. 

Your job search starts with writing a proper resume, which can also be a painstaking process. There are several things that you need to consider about what you should and shouldn’t put on your resume. Even if you are going to tailor your resume for each vacancy, you need to have the draft version that must include the following:

  • Contact Information
  • Summary
  • Professional Experience
  • Skills and Certificates
  • Education

And after putting it all down, you need to edit and proofread it, as such things as wrong formatting and spelling mistakes may prevent you from becoming a prospective employee. You can sort things out by googling something along the lines of help me edit my resume and get professional help from resume proofreading service in both editing and proofreading. But what to do if you need to proofread it on your own?

Sometimes you may have no time to hire someone to proofread your resume, or you don’t have anyone around to do it as a favor. Maybe you just prefer doing things yourself. So, in this case, you can use a few tricks to make sure that your resume doesn’t contain any misspellings, punctuation errors, and inconsistencies. So, let’s check them out right away. 

Read Your Resume Slowly

Proofreading your resume starts with rereading what you wrote. But don’t start doing it right after you’ve finished writing your resume. Give it time. Do something else, go for a walk, watch an episode of your favorite show, and then go back to reading your resume. A small break will help you take a fresh look at your resume to find all the possible errors you’ve made. 

You can reread it slowly; you can even do it aloud. If the sentence doesn’t sound good when reading it aloud, change it so it has a proper rhythm. You should also read your resume either on a different device, or you can print it and read it on paper. Doing this will allow you to notice your possible misspellings better. 

Use Editing Tools

Editing tools are used for everything from college essays to articles. And you can definitely look for some grammar and spelling checks online for your resume. Even in a free version, such services will allow you to eliminate grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. But you need to be attentive to the suggestions that the service makes. 

While it’s an excellent help for checking any paper on proper grammar and spelling, sometimes a suggestion can ruin the meaning of your sentence. Also, it may not catch the sequence of tenses properly. You might have meant that you’d led a department, but the service won’t find any problems with the word “lead.” 

Eliminate Repeated Words

A lot of resumes contain an insane amount of repeated words. There’s no point in saying that you are a detail-oriented recruiter attentive to details or that you are a passionate journalist with a passion for writing. Moreover, the skills section may not contain the word “skills” anywhere else except in the title. 

Unfortunately, people repeat the exact words unconsciously, and it’s difficult to notice them upon writing the text. But, you can always pinpoint repeated words and phrases when rereading your resume. You can simply rephrase the sentence to avoid those words, or you can use synonyms that are close in meaning. 

If you find it hard to notice the repeated words, you can always use online word density checkers and word art programs. Such services will show where your resume has problems with repetition. It will surely save you time, so you can go straight ahead in rephrasing the sentences and picking up synonyms. 

Eliminate Cliches

Speaking about synonyms, they come in handy when you want to avoid cliches in your resume. Resumes are full of cliches, and you should eliminate them when proofreading yours. Each candidate is a results-oriented team player with strong communication skills. And have you ever wondered how many resumes claim that the candidate thinks outside the box?

While it often seems that a resume demands using cliched language, avoiding it will help you to stand out. Maybe the creative approach is not the best example of a substitute for thinking outside the box, but recruiters see the former less frequently than the latter. Google the synonyms, and your resume will stand out. 

But be careful, as the first synonym you may find for “results-oriented” is “aggressive.” And an “aggressive team player” doesn’t sound like the best addition for a company. But pointing out that you are focused on achievements may work quite fine. 

Edit Out Unnecessary Things

Yes, it has more to do with editing rather than proofreading, but you may come across unnecessary things that you’ve put on your resume. It can be a section that is not necessary for a particular vacancy. You may also go into every detail about the tasks and responsibilities that you had in your previous jobs. 

When describing your responsibilities and achievements, you should focus on the most relevant ones. Instead of listing things that have nothing to do with your prospective position or have no impact on your career, list things where you’ve used your skills. List duties that have provided you with valuable skills that you can use for your prospective job. 

Final Thoughts

Proofreading your resume can be difficult but you can use skillhub review on Top-resume-reviews.com and find a help. And it often feels easier to ask or hire someone to do it for you. But even if someone else had proofread your resume, you need to do it yourself afterward. After all, any proofreader is just a human, and a human can miss out on some spelling errors.

I am the one who loves to read and also has a special interest in writing. I have written for many websites and shared my views with the reader. I have always received warmth and love from my audience. I hope you will love my work too.

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