Part of being an HR professional is sifting through the piles of résumés and job applications trying to find the right fit for the role. However, as an HR professional, you may also encounter some very cringe-worthy typos, poor grammar, or misinformation within these résumés and applications. Recently, CareerBuilder reached out to the HR community and conducted a survey to find the most outrageous résumé mistakes employers have encountered.
The survey was conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between May 11 and June 7, 2016, and included more than 2,100 full-time, U.S. hiring and Human Resources managers in the private sector across industries and company sizes.
The survey found that 43% of respondents said they spend less than a minute looking at a résumé, while only 24% spend less than 30 seconds. With that in mind, HR managers were also asked what were some of the most glaring mistakes they’ve encountered when reviewing résumés, their responses include:
- An applicant’s name was autocorrected from “Flin” to “Flintstone.” His name was Freddie.
- An applicant claimed to possess great attention to detail, but “attention” was misspelled.
- An applicant claimed he worked at a federal prison. A background check determined he was actually incarcerated at the prison during that time.
- An applicant stated he had been a prince in another life.
- An applicant listed a skill as “taking long walks.”
- An applicant used direct quotes from Star Wars in the résumé.
- An applicant claimed he would work harder if paid more.
- An applicant wrote the following at the end of the résumé: “I didn’t really fill this out, someone did it for me.”
- An applicant used a résumé template with cats in the corners.
- An applicant listed smoking under hobbies.
What’s the most outrageous mistake you’ve caught on a résumé? Share it in our comments section below or e-mail us and it could be featured in the next HRSBT!
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