At paperchance, we’ve been proofreading and editing the CVs of a wide range of people with different educational and professional backgrounds. No matter where people are from, there are errors that they all often make:

1) Using Clichés
Recruiters care about facts. Claiming in your CV that you’re “hard-working”, ready to “unleash your full potential” or a “quick learner” adds very little value to your CV. We often see CVs that are plastered with these sort of clichés, some more original than others.

2) Mixing Personal Pronouns
Some people mix personal pronouns in their CV. In one paragraph they write, “I wrote a report”. In the next one, they drop the personal pronoun, saying “wrote a report”. Even more baffling, in some other paragraph, they might say, “we wrote a report”.

Unless you’re Truddi Chase, a woman living with 92 separate identities, you should stick to one personal pronoun.

3) Using Overly Sophisticated Language
Recruiters don’t care about whether you can “utilize your skills in a stimulating environment.” Drop those presumptuous formulations! Get rid of the filler and write like a normal human being. Good language is clear and straightforward!

4) Forgetting Dates
Depending on where you live, listing your birthday date may not be necessary due to anti-discrimination laws. This, however, does not mean that you should not use any number or dates altogether.

It is essential to state when and where you completed your education. Similarly, you should state when you started and stopped working for a specific company. Dropping dates from your CV won’t make it timeless. It will just earn you an instant rejection.

5) Too Many Acronyms
So, you have completed a course in TYS and BTP? Have you gained specific skills while working at BLBS? Or maybe you have earned a certificate and are now a qualified SCS expert? Congratulations!

The risk, if you make excessive use of acronyms, is that nobody will understand you. If your CV is filled with acronyms and lacks explanations, the risk is that recruiters may call it BS. And when we say BS, we hope you understand what we mean!