The top 3 mistakes women make on their resumes

Women are exponentially more educated and more employed than ever before. Before the pandemic hit, women (aged 25+) made up over half of the college-educated workforce, and Bachelor’s degree earners were 58% female.

In fact, in 2019 it was projected that women should be about 48% of the workforce by the time 2050 rolls around. Even with the “shecession” of the last year and all of the issues the pandemic has placed on working women — which have been, admittedly, a lot — there is a creation of jobs and diversifying of companies happening as well that should start to affect the numbers in the coming months.

All of that to be said, women have way more potential in the workforce and have been innovating across industries over the past few years. Now more than ever, the world is recognizing the importance of women in leadership roles, and companies are actively hiring with the intent to have more women and diversity on their teams. Not only is this important for balance in the workplace, but more diversity leads to perspective and, overarchingly, growth and success.

Ready to champion your next career move as a woman in the male-dominated workforce? Here are some common mistakes women make on their resumes, and how to avoid them.

1. Avoid diminishing your worth

A lot of women experience concern over seeming arrogant or abrasive in their resume material when they consider talking about their own successes and milestones. In fact, the glaring difference between women’s resumes and men’s is that there is an insane confidence gap between the two sexes. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, either. Many women admit to having some form of imposter syndrome or feelings that they don’t belong in the position or career they have, which is mostly due to the fact that they didn’t experience people that looked and thought like them in leadership roles while growing up or in their early careers.

Messaging is important. Use powerful language. (Your male counterparts certainly are.) We’re big fans of thesaurus.com and using job descriptions for positions you’re interested in at dream jobs to re-evaluate a resume. List leadership skills you have acquired in a concise and clear way. And if you’ve taken on additional job responsibilities at work overtime — as most women certainly do — then make that known in your job description. Show those employers how adaptable and supportive you can be, but let them know you’ll champion that position like no one else.

If you believe you are the best for the position, let it shine through in every aspect of that application. But be sure to start with your resume.

2. Dazzle in your professional summary

Recruiters are often asked to view dozens – if not hundreds – of resumes during the hiring process for even just one position. Often, resumes are passed through some sort of algorithm or the employer uses an advanced form of AI to help determine if the candidate’s resume is even worth looking at by human eyes, so the system is already working against you. It’s up to you to take every opportunity to hype yourself up, including prioritizing that professional summary.

While many people are used to writing a one-liner about their job desires at the top of their resume, it’s often not enough to just state the type of position you’re looking for or even your top three hireable qualities. Consider a professional summary of your elevator pitch for yourself. It is the most compelling bit of information on your paper resume and should take precedence over other items. These 3-4 lines will summarize the most important reasons you’re qualified for the position you are applying to.

Each professional summary will include a headline — a 3-4 word summary of your career and its next step — that is often bolded for effect. Following that, you should include a line of job titles you are considering, a line of high-level professional skills you’ve attained, the third line of impressive facts about what you’ve done for other companies or specific statistics on the growth you contributed to, and the last line should include any accolades, awards, or defining moments in your career. Check this out for a deeper dive into the importance and crafting of a resume summary.

3. Don’t pigeonhole yourself as support

Women spend so much of their lives in supporting roles, nurturing or being told to be nurturing, learning different ways to “be” over time. Even women who do attain their leadership dreams and become CEOs, management, and owners are often categorized as nurturers, just because they are women. But changing the narrative – coming at it from a different angle on your resume – can often change the way you are approached in a hiring situation.

Using assertive language in your resume can not only be convincing but can be reassuring. It’s one thing to see women using words like “helped,” “assisted,” “was asked to,” and similar on resumes while their male counterparts are peppering their work with “founded,” “exceeded,” “executed,” and “led.” Another is the sheer comfort one can find in seeing someone be confident in their abilities. Remember, the hiring manager is in charge of making the right fit for their company. Someone who is familiar with more assertive language will ease their minds and gives you the edge of being a phenomenal communicator.

For ideas on where to look for your next role — plus a whole lot of advice for career-focused women — check this out.