"Hire me, I'm awesome": CVs to raise a smile

A stand-out resume may get you noticed but not necessarily for the right reasons. Here are some of most memorable CV missteps

BY Caitlin Nobes 20 Sep 2013

A stand-out resume may get you noticed but not necessarily for the right reasons. As we've proven before, CVs are a never-ending wellspring of chuckles. Now online job site CareerBuilder has collated some of the most memorable CV missteps from its recent US survey of HR professionals and hiring managers.

And to balance out the wacky mistakes they have also put together a list of the more common errors made that send a resume to the denied pile.

Here are the memorable CV mistakes to come across the HR desk:

Resume listed the candidate’s objective as “To work for someone who is not an alcoholic with three DUI’s like my current employer”
Resume included time spent in jail for assaulting a former boss
CV listed the candidate’s online video gaming experience leading warrior “clans”, suggesting this passed for leadership experience
Resume was submitted from a person the company just fired
Resume’s “Skills” section was spelled “Skelze”
Resume consisted of one sentence: “Hire me, I’m awesome”
Resume included pictures of the candidate from baby photos to adulthood
Resume was written in Klingon language from Star Trek
On the job application, where it asks for your job title with a previous employer, the applicant wrote “Mr.”

Here are the common mistakes identified by those taking part in the survey that would lead to an automatic dismissal for the candidate: