Over the years, I have hired for various roles such as software developers, marketers, graphic designers, operation managers, and customer service representatives.
No matter what the role or level of experience, these are 3 red flags I’m personally looking out for while reviewing CVs:
1. Typos and other mistakes
There is simply no excuse for typos. Even if you are bad at spelling, chances are that the software you’re using to prepare your CV has a spell checker. And if it doesn’t, please find one and use it. It shows a complete lack of both attention to detail and respect to send over a CV that contains typos.
Other mistakes such as missing words and punctuation marks, or sentences that are poorly written should also be fixed — it's always worth asking a couple of people to proofread your CV.
2. Inconsistencies
It's unbelievable how many times I have seen CVs with dates that don't make sense or a job history that doesn't correspond to what is publicised on LinkedIn. It raises questions about both lack of attention to detail and whether there is something you're trying to hide.
3. Very frequent job changes
There might be legit reasons that you have multiple jobs that only lasted for a few months each and you should definitely not try to hide them from your job history, but it is something you should be prepared to be questioned about in the interview.