First impressions in a job search happen on paper, long before anyone meets with you in person. Your resume and cover letter are usually the only things standing between you and an interview, so it pays to get them right. We are regularly receiving feedback from candidates that they are not hearing back from job applications, and that when they do they are advised that there has been a high volume of applications being submitted for each job. The job market in Ballarat is tightening, making nailing your resume and cover letter even more important to garner the attention of the recruiter or the hiring manager.
We look at a large number of resumes each year, and over time start to notice patterns. Beyond the actual skills and experience listed, we’re reading for things like reliability, career stability, and how much care someone has put into the application itself. That impression often shapes whether we reach out to you, and once it does that call is a chance for us to confirm (or challenge) the picture that your resume has already painted.
This week, I’ve listed 5 of the most common resume slip ups we come across, so you can review your application before hitting send, giving you the best chance to progress your application in a tightening employment market.
- Being too vague
We have no way of knowing the size, complexity or context of the roles you’ve held unless you tell us. Vague descriptions leave your experience open to guess work, and guess work rarely works in your favour.
Instead of: “Processed Invoices” Try: Processed up to 25 invoices daily using MYOB, ensuring accuracy and timely payment cycles.
The second version tells a reader exactly what you did, how much of it, and what tools you used – far more useful than a one line task list.
- Leaving out dates
Employment dates aren’t just a formality, they show how long you stayed in a role, how much you likely achieved in that time, and how you tend to approach commitment. Always include the month and year for each position, not just the year.
Example: Position Title | Company Nov 2023 – Aug 2026
Missing or vague dates tend to raise more questions than they answer.
- Trying to hide gaps or short stints
It’s tempting to smooth over a gap in your work history or a role that didn’t work out. Resist that urge. Whether you were between jobs, took time out for family, or left a position after a few months, it’s almost always better to be upfront about it than to leave a reader guessing.
It’s also worth noting that a gap doesn’t carry the stigma it once did. Career breaks for further study, travel or family commitments are increasingly common, and most recruiters and hiring managers now view them as a normal part of a career path rather than a warning sign. What matters far more than the gap itself is how you talk about it. A brief confident line explaining what you were doing and ideally what you took from it, a new skill, a fresh perspective or renewed focus, will land much better.
- A resume that doesn’t sound (or look) like you
Your resume should read the way you talk about your work not like it was generated from your position description. If jargon and buzzwords aren’t part of your everyday vocabulary, leave them out. They tend to obscure your real strengths rather than showcase them. There should be a clear line between the person on the page and the person who eventually turns up for the interview.
And don’t stop at the resume itself, keep your tone, formatting and language consistent across your cover letter and any selection criteria responses too. A connected application signals genuine effort, which reflects well on you before anyone has even met you.
- Small errors that undercut a strong application
Typos, mismatched punctuation, changes in font or switching between first and third person are easy to miss, but hard to unsee once a reader spots one. A single error might seem trivial, but it can plant doubt about your attention to detail more broadly.
Before submitting anything, read over it with fresh eyes, or if possible, ask a friend or colleague to read over it too. Fresh readers catch things that you’ve stopped noticing after your tenth read through.
Nobody gets it perfect every time, and small mistakes are part of being human. But a resume is one of the few documents where a little extra thought can genuinely pay off. Run through these points before your next application and hopefully it is the difference between getting overlooked and getting that interview!
