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Resume mistakes causing rejection: A social media Reddit post is drawing attention after one employee shared how reviewing a friend’s resume revealed five common mistakes that may have been causing her job applications to be rejected automatically.

Reddit Post Highlights Resume Mistakes Causing Auto-Rejections

The post, shared on the r/jobsearchhacks subreddit, explained that the friend had been job hunting for four months with barely any callbacks, as per a post shared by a user named 'Material-Maximum1365'. Frustrated by the lack of responses, she asked the poster, who has prior hiring experience, to review her resume. What looked like a polished, professional document on the surface turned out to have several issues that applicant tracking systems (ATS) struggle to process.

Two-Column Resume Layout Confuses ATS Software

The first issue the user shared was the resume’s two-column layout. While visually appealing, the format caused problems when run through an ATS simulator. Because these systems read resumes left to right and top to bottom, the columns caused job titles and dates to merge into unreadable text, leading to what the poster described as an instant rejection before a human reviewer ever saw it. The solution was switching to a simple, single-column layout.

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Job Duties Listed Instead of Measurable Achievements

The second mistake involved listing job duties instead of accomplishments. The resume included generic bullet points such as managing social media accounts or handling customer inquiries. These were rewritten to highlight measurable results, clearly showing how well the work was done rather than just what tasks were assigned.

Missing Keywords From Target Job Postings

Another major issue was the absence of keywords from job postings. Although the friend was applying for marketing roles, her resume lacked commonly used terms like campaign, analytics, SEO, and content strategy. Since ATS software often filters candidates based on keyword matches, missing these terms meant her resume likely never made it past the initial screening.

“References Available Upon Request” Wastes Resume Space

The fourth problem was including the line “References available upon request.” According to the post shared by Material-Maximum1365, this wasted valuable space and added no useful information, since employers already expect candidates to provide references when asked.

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Generic Objective Statement Adds Little Value

Finally, the resume opened with a generic objective statement about seeking a challenging role and professional growth. The poster noted that this added little value and suggested either removing it entirely or replacing it with a short summary that clearly outlined experience and results.

Resume Changes Lead to Increased Callbacks

After fixing all five issues, a process that took about two hours, the friend applied to 15 jobs the following week and received four callbacks. While the poster acknowledged it’s impossible to be certain the resume changes alone caused the improvement, they pointed out that she had previously submitted more than 60 applications with almost no response.

Material-Maximum1365 said that, "Resume stuff is tedious but it matters more than people think."

FAQs

What was the first resume issue identified?
A two-column layout that confused ATS software.

What role did keywords play in the rejections?
Missing common job posting keywords likely caused ATS filters to reject the resume.