Common Mistakes to Avoid

The following mistakes appear repeatedly in student resume reviews. Each one is fixable, and catching them before you submit can make the difference between landing in the interview pile or the reject pile.

The Top 10 Resume Mistakes

1. Over-designing the resume. Graphic skill bars, pie charts, icons replacing text, and heavy color schemes may look creative but sacrifice scannability. Hiring managers need to extract information quickly. Treat your resume as a clear, well-typeset document, not a portfolio spread.
2. Using "Responsible for..." instead of action verbs. "Responsible for drafting floor plans" tells the reader what you were assigned, not what you accomplished. Write "Drafted floor plans for..." instead. Every bullet should start with a strong verb.
3. Including every project from every studio. Curate. Select 2-4 projects that demonstrate range, skill, and relevance to the position. Quality over quantity.
4. Listing software without context. "AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lumion" as a comma-separated list tells the reader nothing about your proficiency or how you used each tool. Group by category and, in your bullet points, mention tools in the context of real work.
5. Typos in firm names when tailoring. Sending a resume to Sasaki with "Dear OLIN" in the header, or misspelling the firm name anywhere on the page, is the single fastest way to get rejected. Triple-check every tailored element.
6. Two-page resume as a student or recent graduate. One page. No exceptions. If you cannot fit your experience on one page, you need to edit more aggressively, not add another page.
7. Missing portfolio link. In architecture and landscape architecture, the portfolio is the most important application document. If your resume does not include a direct, clickable link to your online portfolio, you are making it harder for the firm to evaluate you.
8. Non-professional email address. Use firstname.lastname@domain.com or your university email. Addresses like "designking99@gmail.com" undermine your credibility before the reader sees a single line of content.
9. Inconsistent formatting. Mixed date formats (May 2024 vs. 05/2024), inconsistent alignment (some dates left-aligned, some right), varying bullet styles, or fluctuating font sizes all signal carelessness. The opposite of what an architecture firm wants to see.
10. Including "References available upon request." This line wastes valuable space. References are assumed. Use that line for actual content instead.