Instant Alert: 9 common words too many people spell wrong on their résumé

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9 common words too many people spell wrong on their résumé

by Mark Abadi on Nov 29, 2017, 2:25 PM

Any hiring manager will tell you that when it comes to your résumé, proper spelling is critical to making a good impression.

The average job recruiter spend less than 10 seconds reviewing an individual résumé, and résumés with typos and spelling mistakes are often the first to land in the reject pile.

Business Insider spoke to two résumé coaches — Dana Leavy-Detrick of Brooklyn Resume Studio and Jared Redick of the San Francisco-based Résumé Studio — who shared the most common spelling mistakes they've encountered over the years.

"You wouldn't want to show up to an interview with mismatched socks, or a crooked tie — and errors in the résumé are on the same level," Leavy-Detrick told Business Insider. "They stand out as a flaw in your overall presentation, and lack professionalism."

Here are nine common spelling mistakes you should delete from your résumé immediately:

'Led' vs. 'lead'

Confusing "led" with "lead" is by far the most common spelling mistake people make on their résumés, said Jared Redick, a career coach and résumé writer with the San Francisco-based Resume Studio.

It's easy to see where the confusion comes from. "Led" is the past tense of the verb "lead," pronounced "leed." But when used as a noun, "lead" — the stuff you find in batteries and ammunition — is pronounced identically to "led."

Redick said he's seen the mistake pop up in the résumés of top executives at Fortune 50 companies, proving no one is immune from bad spelling.

'Manager' vs. 'manger'

Here's one that spell-check won't catch: Hastily typing "manger" instead of "manager."

It's a highly common mistake because of the frequency of the word on a typical résumé, Dana Leavy-Detrick, a résumé coach with Brooklyn Resume Studio, told Business Insider.

Of course, "manger" is a perfectly valid word to put on your résumé, so long as your job experience includes work at a horse stable.