I Reviewed 100+ Resumes in the Last 3 Months — Here Are 6 Simple Mistakes That Hurt Candidates (and How to Fix Them)

Over the past three months, I’ve reviewed more than a hundred resumes as part of a hiring process for software engineering roles. Most of them came from smart, motivated, and promising candidates. Yet time and time again, I saw the same six issues that caused resumes to miss the mark—often not because of lack of experience, but due to avoidable presentation mistakes.

The good news? These issues are all fixable with just a little effort.

Whether you’re a junior developer applying for your first job or a seasoned engineer exploring your next opportunity, here are six resume tips that will help you stand out for the right reasons.

1. Spell Check (Seriously)

Yes, it's basic. But you’d be surprised how many resumes contain typos, inconsistent punctuation, or awkward grammar—especially in the summary or "About Me" section.

Remember: your resume is often the first impression you make. A small spelling error might not seem like a big deal, but it signals a lack of attention to detail—something we all care about when hiring developers.

✅ Tip: Run your resume through a grammar checker (like Grammarly or LanguageTool), and ask a friend to read it over. Even better: read it out loud—you’ll catch phrasing issues you might otherwise miss.

2. Order Matters – Lead with Your Strength

What you put first on your resume tells me what you think is most important.

• If you’ve already had relevant work experience in tech, start with your Experience section.
• If you’re a recent graduate or pivoting into tech and your bootcamp or degree is your main credential, lead with your Education.
• If you're self-taught and have strong open-source contributions or freelance projects, highlight those early.

Don’t just follow a template blindly—think strategically about what gives you the strongest narrative.

✅ Tip: If your resume opens with the section you’re most proud of, that confidence tends to carry through the rest of the document.

3. Add a Personal Touch to Your Application

Your resume is important—but so is how you submit it.

Too often, I see job applications that are just a resume attached with no note, no greeting, nothing. It’s a missed opportunity.

You don’t need to write a full cover letter, but even a one-liner in your application or email that shows interest can make a difference. Something like:

“I recently read your team’s blog post on feature flagging strategies—really insightful!”
“I’ve been following your open-source work and would love to be part of a team like this.”

It shows you're not just spamming companies—you care about this specific opportunity. As a reviewer, I notice that.

✅ Tip: If you’re applying via a portal with a “comments” field, don’t leave it empty. That’s your spot to show personality and interest.

4. Don’t Over-Exaggerate

We all want to present ourselves in the best light. But there’s a difference between highlighting your work and inflating it.

Statements like:

“Led the architecture of the company’s microservices system”
“Spearheaded mission-critical infrastructure initiatives”

…might raise eyebrows if you were a junior developer at the time.

It’s okay to be proud of your work—but be honest and clear about your role. If you worked on a feature, say so. If you led it, great—but only if that’s accurate. Most interviewers can spot exaggeration, and it only makes the conversation awkward later on.

✅ Tip: Try to use neutral, descriptive verbs like “built,” “contributed to,” “implemented,” or “collaborated on” unless you really did lead or architect something.

5. Be Specific About What You Did

Here’s a before-and-after to illustrate this point:

❌ “Led and developed key features of the product.”
✅ “Developed the SSO authentication module using the Passport.js library, enabling login via Google and GitHub.”

The second version tells me:

• What you built
• What technology you used
• What problem it solved

This kind of detail not only helps the recruiter understand your strengths, but also gives you something concrete to talk about in the interview.

✅ Tip: For every role on your resume, list 2–3 key contributions. Try to answer: What did I build? What technologies did I use? What was the outcome?

6. Choosing the “Right” Template

It’s tempting to search for that perfect, beautifully designed resume template—but design isn’t what really matters.

You don’t need colors, graphs, or sidebars to make your resume stand out. What does matter is clarity.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Text size should be readable – Don’t go smaller than 10–11pt.
• Use high contrast – Dark text on a light background is easiest to scan.
• Avoid clutter – Overly designed resumes with charts, icons, or multiple columns can feel like a kindergarten collage. Keep it simple and structured.

✅ Tip: Think of your resume like clean code: readable, consistent, and free of unnecessary decoration.

Final Thoughts

Your resume doesn't need to be flashy—it just needs to be clear, honest, and tailored to highlight your strengths.

These six tweaks won't take you hours to fix, but they will improve your chances of getting noticed. In a competitive field like software engineering, that small edge can be what gets you to the next stage.

Bonus: If you’re applying for developer roles and want feedback on your resume from someone who’s been reviewing a lot of them—feel free to reach out. I’m happy to help.