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Bad Resume Examples for College Students- Mistakes You Should Avoid

July 31, 2023 4.2K views

Whatever your skills are, you cannot get a good job unless you satisfy the recruiters. A resume is a key to showing your skills to get a job. Making a resume of your own is not a tough task unless you are doing it for the first time. Resumes are like clothes covering your skills. If your resume is attractive, it gives the impression that your skills are good.

How to make a good resume should concern you if you are looking for your first job. Many newbies make mistakes because they are not guided enough. Many bad resume examples on the internet are enough to teach us something. But the major learning you need is how to avoid common mistakes and not to end up yourself with a bad resume example.


What Is A Job Resume?

Your resume is more than just a piece of paper or a software copy of your writings. It is the reflection of your skills. It is detailed information about your abilities in your field, summed up on a page. Your resume is your best buddy or worst enemy, depending on how you shape it.

If you are thinking about earning your own money, your resume is your first step on the ladder. You need to start your journey carefully because just a wrong, unnecessary sentence in your resume can take you down the drain hole. So remember the rules, your resume is as important as your grades.


What Are The Components Of A Resume?

A resume should contain all detailed information about your technical skills and other aspects that can help you get a job. If you are a college student wanting to apply for a part-time job, you still need a resume. The contents of your resume depend upon your skills. Your expertise should be iced on your resume to look good.

Mention your general information like your name, schooling, education, hobbies, and GPAs in your resume in an admiring tone. If you have earned some extra credits in anything beyond your field, like internships or volunteer services, mention them.

Lastly, your purpose of serving and your contact information are also important. These are some general requirements for a resume. How you cook them in your pdf or paper is an art, and this art is important to get you your dream job.


Which Resume Is A Bad Resume?

Bad resume examples are a good lesson for those who take their resume profile building lightly. Resumes turn out bad when you don’t give enough attention to the writing task. You may have great skills and good academic records, but you can be rejected because your resume is poor.

A bad resume does not contain sufficient information. A lack of information in your resume is enough to include your resume in bad resume examples. Your information is important for the recruiter to tell if you are compatible with the job or not. So if you think that adding your grades is enough, you are wrong!

Looks also matter. A resume that does not look attractive to the eye is bad. Formatting, writing style, and neatness describe your resume profile. You can be judged as an amateur if you don’t know how to make your resume look good.


Why Does A College Student Need A Resume?

College students mostly look for a means of earning their degrees near the end. A good resume is all students need to step foot in their career. Students often make silly mistakes in their resumes that set bad examples. To overcome this difficulty, good knowledge and distinguishing writing skills are important.

College students looking for part-time jobs are often interested in small jobs like caterers or nannies. A simple resume can help them get the position. But if you mention that you prefer a chair while applying for a caterer during work hours, you are setting a bad resume example.


Writing A Resume Without Experience:

If you are a fresh graduate looking for opportunities or a college student for a part-time job, you may fail at writing a good resume if you don’t know the steps. Knowing how to write a resume is important to exclude you from bad resume examples.

1. Focus On Your Format:

The format or the layout of your resume is an important point. Being a college student, you do not need to make a complex resume. Select a simple format related to the field you want to get a job in. An attractive format has the following steps:

  • Header (your contact information and personal description)

  • Education

  • Internships, extracurricular activities, volunteer programs, and field projects Skills

Suppose your resume captures the eye of your recruiter for even a minute, congratulations! You succeeded in making a good one. For a college student to do so is an achievement.

2. Emphasize Your Education:

If you fail to highlight your educational successes, you are heading straight towards setting a bad resume example. Because college students lack experience, the main focus of their resumes is their education. Make sure to mention your schooling and college name in your resume and grades.

3. Contact Information:

Imagine that your resume attracts the recruiter, but when they try to contact you, they find your contact information insufficient. A bad resume example counts the one with a lack of contact details. For a job, your contact number is never sufficient. Email address, an emergency contact, and a home address need to be mentioned. You don't want to lose the opportunity due to your carelessness.

4. Resume Objective:

It is the part of your resume that distinguishes you from others. If you are a pro at writing resumes, you would know the importance of this heading. It contains a short paragraph of your professional goals and ambitions. Make it a maximum of 4 to 5 sentences and add the following information:

  • Details about your field of study.

  • Your skills ad experiences related to the job.

  • Your reasons to apply.


Common Mistakes That Lead To Bad Resumes:

College students are at the top of the list for making mistakes in their resumes. Bachelors and current college students face challenges during applying for a job, and the biggest challenge is making an attractive resume. A summary of all the common mistakes made while making a resume can be helpful.

  • Grammatical errors and typing mistakes are the major cause of a failed resume.

  • An unprofessional email address can drown you. Try a sophisticated name for your email and reserve it for professional use only.

  • No mention of any achievement during your course makes resumes look bad. It gives the wrong impression that you are not active in your field and lack social skills.

  • Using long paragraphs instead of bullet points can ruin your resume. It is predicted that 25% of college students' resumes with this mistake will be rejected.

  • Resumes longer than two pages are a real buzz killer. No one has the time to read your long stories in resumes. You will be rejected for this childish act.

  • Resumes that lack specific information or information related to the job have no importance.


Bad Resume Examples:

After mentioning all the important mistakes you should avoid, it is also important to bring some bad examples to light to make you properly understand the requirements of a resume.

Example No.1:

Someone thought that a picture on the resume would look cool. That is the first mistake made in your resume. Remember that your picture is only important when your skills matter for the job, like in the acting or makeup industry. Otherwise, please do not consider it at all.


Example No.2:

There is a big difference between a resume and a cover letter layout. It is one of the many examples of a bad resume. Many college students thought putting all necessary details in paragraphs would be helpful. Well! They thought wrong. Only luck can save you because a sensible recruiter will not consider your resume.


Example No.3:

Some people try to be over-smart by putting all of their past experiences and skills. Just don't do that. Your recruiter has to go through millions of applications. He won't spend time reading the details of your achievements. Just mention them in bullet points and get going.


Example No.4:

The worst examples are those where you mention your weaknesses in your resume. Your grades are important, but only when they are enough to brag about. Putting a GPA of 2.8 on your resume is the worst you can do.


Example No.5:

Skills are an important section of your resume, but you fail if you mention them unprofessionally. Some students do not understand the importance of mention of skills and make the common mistake of writing irrelevant occurrences.


Example No.6:

You will be making fun of yourself if you confuse your skills for your personality. The skills section asks about your professional skills and not something you are! You may be hardworking, but don’t write it as your skill. It will make the recruiter laugh, and you don't need a job entertaining others.


Bad Resume Examples Pdf:

Most companies have shifted their recruitment process online. You will need a strong software copy of your resume for presentation. College students mostly lack the general knowledge of writing a resume on a computer which drowns their career. Bad resume examples pdf form are also a big concern of these students.

The best option is to write your resume in pdf in a good writing style. The use of emoji’s shows unprofessionalism. Secondly, you should be careful about the format you use. Some pdfs don't open on every device. Use applications that favor good formatting and acceptable pdf copies. Or otherwise, you are sending your recruiter nothing but a bad resume example pdf.

Bad Resume Examples Printable:

If your hiring firm needs a hard copy, it could be challenging for you because it looks quite different when you get a print of an online written text. Getting a printout of your resume on colored paper or funky styles page makes it look bad on a professional level. If you are a college student, you will consider making your resume bright and colorful. That's a really bad idea!

Use white paper of office size to print your resume. Don’t leave the page black; try to cover all the information on a single page. Otherwise, your name will be among those setting bad resume examples printable copies.


Impact Of A Bad Resume On Your Career:

If you are a victim of a poor resume, you may not get a job for long. Been rejected by multiple firms despite your good education? Maybe you need to have a look at your resume. Get some help online, learn writing skills, and then try to make a new one. Your bad resume, sent to multiple firms, can impact your career badly. The recruiters can remember you for your pathetic mistakes, and you may never get a chance again!


Good And Bad Resume Examples:

The differences between good and bad resume examples are not too big. If you avoid all the mistakes mentioned earlier, you can turn your bad resume into a good one. It is not the lack of skills and education that makes a resume bad but how you write it.

You can find plenty of good and bad resume examples on the internet. They would look just the same based on the information provided. But the major difference to be noted is the layout and your selection of words to present it.


Final words:

If you are a college student looking for a job, there is a slight possibility that you will set a bad resume example if you don't know the rules. Bad resumes are a real deal in your career. They can build your strong image in front of your future boss. They can also be why your continuous failure despite your good education. For easy formatting you can download WPS office. The templates really make the task hassle free.

There is no advanced knowledge to making a resume but general precautions. Take care of your layout and format, but all the necessary knowledge in a respectable manner, and you will rock!

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.