JOB candidates are told to make a good impression on their résumés. How far will you go to create attention?

You aim to grab the manager’s attention, but you don’t want to stand out for the wrong reasons or end up on CareerBuilder’s “most memorable missteps” list. You will become “memorable” as what not to do when it comes to résumé writing.

There is a lot of pressure to create a résumé that will make it past the first glance, especially with 14.9 million unemployed persons in the United States, for example, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. A CareerBuilder survey — which questioned 2,500 employers — says almost half of managers view at least 25 applications for open positions. Typically, 38 per cent of managers spend less than a minute on each résumé. And 18 per cent of survey respondents only take about 30 seconds to look at a résumé.

When it comes to the top mistake for résumés, managers say it is a lack of adaptation. The résumés aren’t modified to fit the qualifications of the open position. But some résumés make mistakes that are worth noting because they are ridiculous.

Here are some examples if you are hoping to make it on CareerBuilder’s “most memorable missteps” list for résumés:

* “Candidate put God down as a reference (no phone number).”

* “Candidate listed her hobby as alligator wrestling.”

* “Candidate’s e-mail address had ‘loves beer’ in it.”

* “Candidate listed ‘Master of Time and Universe’ under his experience.”

* “Candidate’s condition for accepting the position was being allowed to bring his pet monkey to the workplace.”

* “Candidate pointed out, ‘I’ll have your job in five years’.”

* “Candidate put a picture of her cat on top of her résumé.”

* “Candidate sent a 24-page résumé for a five-year career.”

“Job-seekers need to communicate their relevant experience and utilise keywords from the job posting, while customising their résumé for each and every position,” says Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s vice-president of human resources. “Focus on what you can bring to the table right from the get go.”

Haefner provides suggestions to make your résumé more memorable for the right reasons:

* Calculate your work experience. Show managers how you have helped with team efficiency or helped complete important sales.

* Avoid personal information. Refrain from including personal facts in your résumé. Keep items that are more related to the business world, such as volunteering or being a part of a professional organisation. Steer clear of inappropriate e-mail addresses, emoticons or showy fonts.

* Break up the information. Try to use bullets to make the résumé easier to read. Break the facts into different sections.

— Creators News Service