These common resume mistakes could cost you the interview

By Ash Athawale, Senior Managing Director, Executive Search, Robert Half

The saying, "You don't get a second chance to make a first impression" has never been more important for job seekers. That chance is your resume, and too many applicants get ruled out before recruiters and hiring managers even get to your experience.

I remember talking with a candidate who couldn't understand why he wasn't getting any callbacks. I asked him to send over his resume. The qualifications were impressive, but there was one major problem: His phone number was missing a digit. And sometimes the entire phone number is inadvertently skipped, which makes it a challenge for the company or a recruiter to contact you directly.

It's a small mistake that comes with an outsized cost. AI tools have made it easier to create a polished-looking resume, but they don’t always track the minutia and can also make small inconsistencies stand out more.

As recruiters and hiring managers work through the mountains of resumes for every single job opening, they're doing so with an increasingly skeptical eye.

Avoiding even the smallest resume errors could be the difference between a rejection email and an interview.

For me, there are a handful of resume basics that have to be buttoned up. Here are some of the most common resume mistakes that cause the biggest problems for an applicant.

As you begin your job search, review our Job Search Strategies Guide which lays out a step-by-step action plan for the 2026 market.

Strengthen your job search and your resume using these tips:

Outdated or inconsistent contact information
A resume that runs too long
Dates that don't match across your resume and LinkedIn
Multiple versions of the same resume
Inconsistent LinkedIn profile or presence

Outdated or inconsistent contact information

This one is simple. If you want to get someone to call you back about a job, you're going to need to provide the right contact information.

Make sure your phone number is updated with a number that still exists and a recruiter can leave a message if you don’t answer. Use your personal number. If you list your work number, and you are job searching after a layoff, that work number isn't going to do you much good.

Your email address is another important consideration. Create one you can use exclusively for your job search, separate from a shared or family inbox. If I see a "SmithFamily" email address, my first thought is that everyone in the family has access to it. Email is free. Get and use one just for your job search. There's a separate one just for your career.

A resume that runs too long

"How long should a resume be?" is one of the questions I get the most. The answer is pretty simple, too. Unless you're in academia, your resume should not be more than two pages, two and a half max.

If you have had a fairly lengthy career, the last 15 to 20 years are good enough. You don't need to cut the previous experience, but you can just add a brief "prior experience" line that covers anything outside that 15-20-year window.

Don’t get carried away with bullet points, either. If you spent a decade at a company 8 to 10 bullet points should do. If you were there for just a couple of years, 4 or 5 is enough. If you go overboard, you risk distracting recruiters from the most relevant parts of your experience.

Dates that don't match across your resume and LinkedIn

One thing that recruiters will spot right away is if you write that you worked at one job from 2020 until 2022, and then your next job started in 2023. There's a gap there. You may have finished in December and started in January the next year, but it could also read as if you were unemployed for a year.

The fix: Write the months and years for your work experience. Make sure those are buttoned up, too. Spell the months right, and make sure the dates line up in the right order and also match what you list on LinkedIn.

Multiple versions of the same resume

Some candidates insist on customizing their resume for every application, but you might be surprised how much time that can waste. And what if you've applied to that same company and it's in the applicant tracking system? They're going to see that they don't match. Rather than creating a completely new resume for every application, keep one strong core version and use the cover letter to speak directly to the role.

My advice is to have one version of the resume and use the cover letter to state your case for a specific opening. That's what cover letters are there for. And contrary to popular belief, recruiters and companies do read them for that specific reason.

Keep one core resume and let the cover letter be customized specific to the role you are applying to.

Another simple piece of advice: Use the same font throughout. I've seen candidates change fonts as a way to differentiate among roles. Don't do that. One font works.

Inconsistent LinkedIn profile or presence

Your resume is only one part of your professional story, and recruiters may compare it with your LinkedIn profile. Include the link in your resume. Don't assume they can find you. Your name is probably more common than you realize. And make sure you have the correct link.

As for your actual profile, dates are important here, too. The resume might get checked against your LinkedIn profile, so inconsistent dates could wind up hurting you, even if you're not being deliberately deceptive.

It's the same principle as the work dates: Recruiters aren't just reading your resume. They're checking it against everything else to make sure your story holds up. They also want to see if you have a professional photo and what connections you have in common with them.

Your resume is your personal certificate of your experience; LinkedIn is a preview. Using them both the right way will increase your chances of securing your next opportunity.

Follow Ash Athawale on LinkedIn.

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