Rita Ashley, Career Coach. Field tested advice for executives.

Mistakes your competition makes on their resume.

Your resume is the open-sesame of job search. The more closely an executive resume reflects the needs of the employer, the higher the probability an interview will be offered.

That is the very reason resume writing services hawk their wares with unreasonable promises to an unsure audience. They prey on and exacerbate your uncertainty about your ability to write your own resume. It is tempting to delegate this important task but no one can create a better resume than you once you learn the secret sauce.

Nick Corcodilos, of Ask the Headhunter cautions: ”Resume mills — companies that crank out one-size-fits-all resumes from a stock pattern — do not create a unique image of the individual client. …You could work with a resume mill and still pay handsomely for an “off the rack” resume.”

Learning to craft your own resume is a life skill you need to master because no one knows your background and your stories better than you. Reorganizing it in a pretty typeface doesn’t change the fact your resume must be tailored to the specific job description for the job you are after.

Anything less means you give ground to the competition. Use the job description to determine which of your many accomplishments belong in the objective and  summary and how the objective should be written to capture the attention of the hiring authority. Sounds reasonable, right?

But writing our own resume is very hard. We are so proud of certain accomplishments we make them stand out even if the prospective employer has no need for that skill or talent.  Other mistakes on a typical executive resume include:

1.  Formatting—the more standard the format, the less distracting. A professional’s resume relies on content for the ‘wow’ factor, not the font and paper color. Forget the frame around the content and use 11 or twelve point font. No colors, logos or other distractions.

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2.  Photos on resumes are frowned upon. Some HR professionals say it opens the door for discrimination and discard them on sight.

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3.  Gaps in dates—if there are timeline gaps, the reader will not spend time on your credentials because they are trying to understand what you were doing for the missing time. Don’t lie. While they may not check the veracity of your resume on receipt, it is not unusual for employers to revisit a resume once an individual is hired. They are fired immediately for lying.

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4.  Lies—no matter where you live, it is a small town when it comes to the executive resume. Informal checking usually reveals any misrepresentations quickly.  When lies are discovered later, you will be dismissed immediately.  Most companies have a zero tolerance for lies. Don’t excuse the lie with “everyone does it.” They don’t. You can ruin your career with lies on your resume.

Will your resume be reviewed for inaccuracies? According to the Society for Human Resource Management there is a 100% chance your resume will be checked. Ninety-six percent of human resources professionals reported they conduct some form of background check on every employee.

Beyond that, most recruiters check references at your former employers verify your duties, tenure, salary, even your W2 because, ultimately, if you lie, the recruiter who did not vet your background is likely to lose their client.

For most executive-level candidates, it doesn’t take much more than a Google search on the applicant’s name to find out the truth.

5.  Spelling or grammar errors—there is no excuse for misspelled words or bad grammar. Errors convey the candidate is sloppy and doesn’t pay attention to detail.

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6.  Too much ‘lingo”—arcane jargon and abbreviations are unacceptable. Spell things out and use generic terms where possible.

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7.  Empty words — A real waste of resume real estate is your opinion about yourself.  Self starter, accomplished and all other descriptions are useless. Offer data, not opinions.

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8.  Leading with your age — If your first paragraph says, ’20 years experience’ you may be proud but the reader needs to know what you did in those twenty years, not how old you are.

If you avoid these eight common mistakes in your executive resume and focus on the company’s needs, your chance of landing an interview increases.

For more support on how to craft an effective resume, purchase Job Search Debugged.