1. Lack of focus

The ideal CV length is about one to two pages long and should focus on your candidate’s achievements, work history, awards and qualifications. Watch out for applicants who go into too much detail about their hobbies. That said, a little detail about your candidate’s interests outside of work can be a great thing – it gives you a sense of their personality and levels of motivation. Pay attention to any relevant awards or training courses completed – it’s worth raising these during the interview process. Work history should be concise and ideally bullet-pointed.

2. Lacking accuracy

Strong candidates will pay attention to detail and will have CVs that demonstrate this. Screen out candidates whose CVs are filled with typos, grammatical mistakes and formatting errors.

3. Basic information is missing

A similar resume red flag to the one above is a lack of basic information, such as name or contact details. Some candidates may choose to leave out their address, but they should ensure that the rest of their information is on their CV and is accurate.

4. Inappropriate formatting or appearance

Candidates should choose a formatting style or template that is appropriate to their organisation. If you are a law firm, for example, candidates should make sure that the style of their CV is clear and professional – you may feel that their CV looks unprofessional if they use bright colours or unclear fonts. The most professional fonts to use on a CV include Calibri, Garamond, Georgia, Helvetica and Arial. Although this is not necessarily a clear resume red flag, it is reasonable to expect candidates to use a font size that is legible for recruiting managers working through hundreds of applications. Fonts like Arial can cause eye strain when they are too small to read clearly. You might prefer a more creative and dynamic CV format if you work in graphic design or other creative fields where the ability to think outside the box is valued. However, it should still be clear and informative.

5. Employment gaps

Candidates should always explain their employment gaps in their CV or cover letter. Gaps in CVs suggest that your candidate was not in employment during those periods. This can imply that they did not perform to the best of their abilities during previous roles, or perhaps that they are not fully motivated to find work. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with an employment gap, but the candidate should justify it. Pay attention to whether they mention parental leave, illness, death of a family member or becoming self-employed, for example. Candidates who explain their CV gaps show that they are conscientious, and want to impress you as much as possible. Look at whether they have filled any spare time with workshops, training courses or other activities that have helped them to grow personally and professionally.

Candidates who can explain their CV gaps also show good interpersonal skills. This is because they have taken the trouble to consider how their CV might come across to the recruiting manager, and what questions an interviewer might ask.

6. Generic CV

It could be that your candidate’s CV contains all of the relevant information, but is generic. A generic CV is a CV that is not specific to the job that the candidate is applying for – it is so vague that they may have taken it directly from another application that they wrote for a different role. This is especially an issue if you are recruiting in a competitive field and are screening hundreds of job applications. Ideally, you are looking for your candidate’s CV to be focused on the role that they are applying for, taking the trouble to go into detail in areas that show they would be a great fit for your team.

7. Noticeable differences between the information on the CV vs cover letter

Candidates with good attention to detail will ensure that the information on their CV matches that of their cover letter. Check to make sure that their work history on LinkedIn also matches their CV. There may be some subtle discrepancies between an applicant’s LinkedIn profile and CV – their CV may be a more condensed or expanded version of their work history available on LinkedIn, for example.

However, you should watch out for noticeable differences or contradictions between the two, especially in your candidate’s demonstrable experience and skills. Strong candidates are clear, logical, organised communicators and will prove that their work history is consistent across the board.

8. Unclear wording

Another resume red flag is when a candidate’s writing is unclear. If they are otherwise very strong, ask to clarify any unclear points in a candidate’s CV during an interview.

However, if a candidate consistently uses jargon or vague wording, it can be difficult to get a clear impression of their experience. This applies especially to technical industries. Candidates should be able to explain in plain English their skills and how they applied them to each role in their CV. Vague use of language can also suggest to recruiting managers that your candidate does not fully grasp the skills necessary for a role, for example, if they avoid explaining a particular process in detail because they do not fully understand it.

9. Unprofessional online presence

Although not essential, many companies choose to vet a candidate’s social media presence before interviewing or recruiting them. Watch out for candidates who are aggressive online, or post derogatory comments or replies to other users. Consider whether your applicant’s values align with those of your company. Conversely, your candidate’s online presence might reveal positive aspects of their personality, such as the ability to think outside the box, their sense of humour or ability to relate to others. Learning about how a candidate engages with others online is especially useful if they are applying for a social media or content creation role. Their social media presence will give you a clear indication as to how they communicate online.

10. Inconsistent career path

As with CV gaps, there are many potentially valid reasons as to why a candidate has had an inconsistent career path. However, they should explain this concisely in their application. Candidates who are constantly changing jobs or leaving them suggest a lack of loyalty, commitment and perseverance at their previous jobs. Perhaps this candidate just leaves when the work becomes too difficult, for example. This is one of the biggest resume red flags because you need to trust them to stay dedicated to their job well after you have recruited them.

Take these 10 resume red flags into consideration while screening CVs to save time weeding out the weaker ones and ensure that the candidates you select for interview are all good potential fits for the role, making the subsequent interview process time well spent. It will also give you a sense of purpose and strategy as you prepare to dive into that long list of CVs!